Using Insights from the Lab to Better Design Reactors for Carbon Storage in Natural Waters
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Using Insights from the Lab to Better Design Reactors for Carbon Storage in Natural Waters
PI: Jess F. Adkins
Research Team: Holly Barnhart
Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences and Division of Engineering and Applied Science
Climate Science and Water Resources Initiatives
2020 Explorer grant
Earth's oceans serve as massive sinks for carbon dioxide, CO2. The reaction of CO2 with marine carbonates is the main natural buffering process in the climate system that modulates CO2 concentrations on a timescale of thousands of years. This project will undertake comparative studies of the dissolution of limestone in fresh- and seawater. The lessons learned about the dissolution mechanisms will be used to optimize the performance of a prototype reactor that will utilize water and limestone to efficiently trap carbon dioxide.