Abstract: Natural gas has emerged as a crucial clean fuel source to address escalating global energy demands, projected to increase by 40% by 2030 and 15-16% by 2050 compared to 2014 and 2023, respectively. Nevertheless, the sustainability of natural gas as a source of energy and chemicals depends mainly on our success in decarbonizing the industry. I will share examples of decarbonizing midstream and downstream sectors of the industry in my presentation while identifying CO2 utilization routes. Dry reforming of methane (DRM) offers an avenue for converting carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4)—the two major greenhouse gases—into syngas, a vital chemical precursor. However, DRM is constrained by high energy demands, catalyst deactivation, and an unfavorable H2/CO ratio. My research team developed a novel technology with a dual-reactor system that produces multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and syngas as products. CARGEN® offers at least 65% CO2 conversion at 50% of the energy demands of DRM. Utilizing modeling and experimental studies, we scaled up CARGEN® from the milligram scale to the multi-gram scale and, ultimately, to the multi-kilogram scale of MWCNT production. Ultimately, the outcome of this study encourages CARGEN-based chemicals and refinery plants that co-produce syngas, hydrogen, and MWCNTs from CO2 and natural gas as an integrated decarbonization solution. The technology is currently moving toward the commercialization phase.
Another example is the direct synthesis of dimethyl carbonate (DMC), which is considered the most promising route from a green chemistry perspective. This route generates water as the only byproduct in the reaction between CO2 and methanol. My research team worked with Shell to scale up this technology and evaluate its potential for commercialization.
Finally, my research team developed two new quantitative parameters to evaluate the probability of CO2 fixation for decarbonization technologies. The greenhouse gas reduction, sustainability, and economics framework (GASEF) assess commercial viability by simultaneously analyzing a CCU technology’s CO2 fixation (CO2Fix) potential and its economic benefits.
Biography: Elbashir is the director of Texas A&M’s Engineering Experiment Station Gas & Fuels Research Center (GFRC), a major research center involving 30 faculty members from the College Station and Qatar campuses of Texas A&M University (http://gfrc.tamu.edu/). He is a professor of chemical engineering and serves on the Qatar and College Station campuses. He has extensive research and teaching experience from four countries worldwide, including his previous position as a researcher at BASF R&D Catalysts in Iselin, New Jersey. His research focuses on designing advanced reactors and catalysts for natural gas and CO2 conversion and decarbonization. He has established several unique global research collaboration models between academia and industry, with research funds exceeding seventeen million dollars. He holds several U.S., European, and international patents and many scientific publications. The scholarship of his research activities has been recognized by awards from BASF Corp., Texas A&M University & TEES, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Shell, ORYX GTL Co., the Qatar Foundation, and others. Elbashir was elected as a Fellow of the AIChE in August 2023, a member of the Sudan National Academy of Sciences (SNAS) in 2022, and its general secretary in February 2024.
This webinar is a certified green event by the University of Illinois' Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment.