Universal Continuing Decision Process For: Mantra *
| Canadian-based Mantra Venture Group, Ltd., developed a chemical process that turns CO2 into an organic acid with various industrial uses. The technology, electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide or ERC, involves capturing CO2 and combining it with water to produce formic acid. Potential uses include: • As an organic acid, formic acid can be used as a substitute for hydrochloric acid (HCl) in steel pickling processes to remove rust and stop oxidation. • The ERC process can be adapted to produce ammonium formate, a potential fuel additive currently being tested in Europe and Japan to reduce NOx emissions. • In fuel cells, liquid fuels are indirectly combined with oxygen to form carbon dioxide and water, while generating electricity, a process known as electro-oxidation. The complementary nature of ERC and electro-oxidation makes it possible to use ERC in a regenerative fuel cell cycle, where CO2 is converted into a fuel that is consumed in a fuel cell to regenerate CO2. Mantra signed a memorandum of understanding with Korean environmental engineering concern Bluebird Co., Ltd., to develop and commercialize Mantra’s ERC technology in Asia. Phase one involves a 1 kg/day ERC demonstration unit by November 2009. Phase two will be a commercial-scale 1 ton/day ERC reactor slated for January 2010. Phase three is a 100 ton/day reactor scheduled for 2012. See, “Carbon Recycling with the Electroreduction of Carbon Dioxide (ERC).” |
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