13th NIChE Conference on Carbon Capture and Sequestration

The conference was held on October 12-14, 2008 on the Rice University campus in Houston, TX.

Participants from the industrial, academic, and government sectors highlighted the need and the urgency for action. Inspired by excellent presentations on CCS issues and technologies, participants discussed technical challenges from geological considerations related to carbon dioxide storage, to laboratory and demonstration scale separations design and implementation for carbon dioxide capture. The discussion of these topics extended to liability and siting issues, as well as social implications and public acceptance of these new technologies. Throughout the meeting participants had robust debates on the impact of CCS on the chemical enterprise, social trade-offs, economic feasibility and a path forward. Attendees left with a much better understanding of how climate change and CCS will impact their own organizations. The conference was comprised of three sessions and a wrap-up. In the overview we heard from Dr. Jim Dooley of the Joint Global Change Research Institute, Ken Ostrowski from McKinsey and Co. and Dan Connell from CONSOL Energy R&D. Methods of CO2 capture using membranes, absorption and adsorption were presented by Prof. Winston Ho from Ohio State University, Prof. Joan Brennecke from the University of Notre Dame, and Dr. Robert Quinn from Air Products. The area of geological CO2 sequestration was covered by Richard Doctor from Argonne National Laboratory, Dr. Pete McGrail from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Dr. Alan Brown from Schlumberger. Finally, Dr. George Guthrie continued with the sequestration theme in the wrap-up session. There was significant discussion throughout the conference. In the wrap-up session, a number of ‘take-home messages’ were identified. The attendees reviewed the current policies, potential future policies, available technologies, emerging technologies, and technology gaps in CCS. They identified significant R&D opportunities in chemical absorption, adsorption, membrane technologies, and gas separations for CCS. The attendees also identified needs for sensing, geochemical modeling, and process economics that represent R&D opportunities for the chemical enterprise. Finally, the attendees covered risks to the chemical industry of inaction. More details on the take home messages and full presentations are available for CCR members and conference attendees.

NIChE Carbon Capture and Sequestration Conference Speakers and Presentations