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CO2 sequestration through mineral carbonation of waste phosphogypsum using the technique of membrane electrolysis

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Abstract

Mineral carbonation is considered to be a promising method for sequestering atmospheric CO2. This paper studied the technical feasibility of mineral carbonation of waste phosphogypsum assessed by investigating the details of the electrochemical reaction in an electrolytic cell. In a series of experiments, phosphogypsum was shown to exhibit high carbonation reactivity at conditions of room temperature and atmospheric pressure. Results show that preparation of a catholyte solution with an optimal alkalinity of pH 11 will enable production of large quantities of calcium carbonate of purity greater than 90 % at a carbonation rate of 95 %. In comparison with the traditional electrolysis process, membrane electrolysis can significantly reduce the necessary cell voltage required for the reaction to take place, while avoiding the production of chlorine gas. Injection of CO2 in the cathode chamber of the electrochemical cell decreases the pH of the catholyte, thereby depolarizing the cathode and reducing the energy consumption of the entire electrolytic process. This renders the method to be economically feasible.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (51120145001, 51254002), the National Natural Science Funds for Distinguished Young Scholars (51125017) and the Natural Basic Research Projects of China (2011CB201201).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China

    Heping Xie, Jinlong Wang & Tao Liu

  2. Key Laboratory of Energy Engineering Safety and Mechanics On Disasters, The Ministry of Education, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China

    Heping Xie, Zhengmeng Hou, Yufei Wang & Liang Tang

  3. Center of CCUS and CO2 Mineralization and Utilization, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China

    Jinlong Wang, Yufei Wang, Tao Liu, Liang Tang & Wen Jiang

  4. College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610064, China

    Wen Jiang

  5. Institute of Petroleum Engineering, Clausthal University of Technology, 38678, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany

    Zhengmeng Hou

Authors
  1. Heping Xie
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  2. Jinlong Wang
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  3. Zhengmeng Hou
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  4. Yufei Wang
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  5. Tao Liu
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  6. Liang Tang
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  7. Wen Jiang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jinlong Wang.

Additional information

This article is part of a Topical Collection in Environmental Earth Sciences on “Environment and Health in China II”, guest edited by Tian-Xiang Yue, Cui Chen, Bing Xu and Olaf Kolditz.

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Xie, H., Wang, J., Hou, Z. et al. CO2 sequestration through mineral carbonation of waste phosphogypsum using the technique of membrane electrolysis. Environ Earth Sci 75, 1216 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-016-6009-3

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