The chemical reactions of some substances / Homemade apparatus / Professor's Advice

serendipity21

[1]

Good afternoon anyone! I am a Petroleum Engineering student at Palawan State University and conducting a research. I have seen a topic of research, and it is: The Production of Petrol from Air and Electricity, and I need to find some reaction equations for my topic, here are some:

Air and NaOH is combined and passed through an electrolyser to separate the CO2 present in air.

CO2 and H2 are reacted together to produce methanol.

Methanol is converted into petrol.

(Please include the other products and catalysts in your equations, thanks in advance!)

[2]

In the 2nd reaction mentioned above, a reactor is needed to produce methanol. Since I am an amateur student, please explain its operation and am I able to make a homemade reactor?
I would be glad if yes.



[Preferably I need to speak to Chemistry professors and Chemical Engineers out there, I have a pile of questions to ask to you. Thank you very much! (Thesis Adviser)]

DrDu

Have a look at this page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_to_liquids

Borek

I don't see how you are going to use electrolysis to decompose carbonates.

serendipity21

Everyone look at this video and believe.

http://edition.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp...petrol-air.cnn

Please help me for my thesis. :)

Borek

Sorry, but basing your chemical research on some CNN video is not going to work. While most of the information there is reasonably correct, there are plenty of shortcuts and simplifications.

serendipity21

Of course sir! I have many sources and do not base on just one news article. Thanks I found someone I could speak on. Here is the company's website for that news in CNN.

http://www.airfuelsynthesis.com/home.html

Borek

Find where they state "we use electrolysis to reclaim CO₂ from the water solution".

serendipity21

Exactly where do you have read about that sir? I have read some topics related to carbon recycling, and if I was not to base the idea from NaOH, how can I extract CO2 from air?

Borek

I haven't. That was more of a rhetorical question. I would be convinced they use electrolysis for CO₂ if you will find it on their page.

chemisttree

Borek, electrolysis of potassium carbonate solutions is actually being investigated as a method to obtain CO2 from the air. Presumably, it happens in an analogous fashion as is described for the hydrolysis of calcium carbonate. The CNN report was pretty clear that CO2 is captured with sodium hydroxide solution and electrolyzed to release the CO2.

Serendipity, this reference will greatly assist you.

Borek

Interesting, looks like a piece of a clever chemistry. Still, if I understand the process correctly (and I am not sure I do) I see it as an electrolytical acidification of the solution, not carbonate electrolysis. Perhaps that's just a nomenclature thing.

CNN report was clear, but I don't trust media reports, way too many times what they show is garbled beyond recognition.

serendipity21

Thanks for your time and effort Sirs! I have read the article JOC perspective. Now concerning on the catalytic hydrogenation, CO2 + 3H2 <----> CH3OH + H2O, what kind of process is required to apply this equation, and is there a catalyst? If there is, particularly what? We're thinking of applying the method up to the production of methanol. But from methanol, it needs the MTG process, which is really complicated. Are there possible homemade methods for us students?

Thanks in advance, cheers.

serendipity21

By the way, on the news, the extraction of CO2 via electrolysis of air and NaOH? How can we do that? Is it possible with the use of homemade materials?

chemisttree

Page 4, paragraph 2 of the JOC article. Here is a powerpoint presentation of the process. You should already know this.

Not likely and if I knew how to do it cheaply, low tech, low pressure and at low temperature you'd be paying me every time you filled your gas tank.

serendipity21

Thank you for the efforts. So now can you suggest any research topics related to petroleum? At least on that we can prove it in our defense. Our initial objective from the topic petrol from air and electricity, is to determine its effectiveness against conventional petrol.

serendipity21

Sir, it is not elaborated in the JOC perspective on how to capture CO2 from air. But, I found a paper saying, "A classic chemistry experiment is to bubble air through a calcium hydroxide solution and to remove the air’s CO2 in this fashion", by Klaus S. Lackner et. al., Capturing CO2 from air. Now how was the experiment performed there?

Thanks in advance. Cheers

Studiot

I suggest you consider the energetics of generating methanol from aerial carbon dioxide and water.

It is your project, you cannot expect us to do it for you.