CO₂ capture system using lithium silicate for distributed power supply

Distributed power-supply systems have become more widespread recently. Recent distributed systems, such as fuel cells, offer high energy-use efficiency because they generate heat or hot water and electric power simultaneously. However, to avoid global warming, carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the exhaust gas has to be collected and separated, without emitting it to the atmosphere. We are investigating lithium silicate (Li₄SiO ₄) (LS) because it has superior characteristics as a CO₂ absorber. Aiming at the construction of a CO₂ capture and separation system using LS, we are studying ways to process (capture and separate) the exhaust gas from distributed power-supply systems. We thought that the CO ₂ capture and separate system we should design must process exhaust gases with 30% CO₂ concentration and 35 L/min flow rate and that it must capture and separate more than 50% of the CO₂ contained in the exhaust gases. However, as a result of a preliminary estimation, it became clear that the volume of the assumed CO₂ capture and separate system would be considerable. Therefore, we built a reduction model experimental setup with three reaction containers with three different aspect ratios. The results regarding container shape suggest that a long container would be advantageous..