New Single Step Method To Convert Carbon Dioxide And Water Into Liquid Hydrocarbons

A team of chemists and engineers from the University of Texas, Arlington have finally come up with a one step process to directly convert Carbon dioxide and water into liquid hydrocarbon fuels. Processing of carbon di oxide into biofuels is not a new method, but the high speed of the process is what makes the current method stand out among the rest. This sustainable technology also emits oxygen as a bi-product, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of the process.

To combat the harmful effects of the greenhouse effect, scientists and engineers from across the world are striving to develop innumerable processes that benefit nature. One such novel method includes extraction of Carbon dioxide and synthesizing it into a hydrocarbon fuel. Frederick MacDonnell, co-author of the project stated that their research product is compatible with the contemporary fuel distribution system embedded on trucks, cars and other heavy vehicles.

Researchers exhibited that Hydrocarbons and Oxygen can be obtained as the reaction product when the primary sources are processed in the photo thermochemical flow reactor, which operates at 180 to 200 degrees Celsius and pressures of up to 6 atmospheres. Brian Dennis, the UTA professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering explained that the process requires the simultaneous action of heat and light on the system.

Concentrated light initiates the photochemical reaction which results in high energy intermediate products and drives the thermochemical carbon-chain-forming reactions which ultimately produces liquid hydrocarbon products in a single step. The external stimulator i.e. catalyst used for the chemical reactions was Titanium Oxide, a white powder which is not a good absorber of visible light.

The research group expressed that their future goal will be to modify the reaction process in a way so that it would be able to work under the entire solar spectrum. The research work was supported by the National Science Foundation and the Robert A. Welch Foundation, and was published by the National Academy of Sciences.

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