Demonstrating the Industrial-Scale Viability of MOF-based Carbon Capture
Abstract
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are an exciting class of crystalline porous materials, which exhibit high uptake capacities for a range of adsorbates, such as H2O, CH4 and CO2. MOF-based technologies have historically struggled to span the gap from academic research to large-scale industrial application, often due to inherent limitations in the scale-up of traditional batch processes; these include reproducibility issues with increasing production scale, and/or the high cost of manufacture. Promethean Particles overcome these manufacturing limitations by using a continuous-flow approach to MOF synthesis. Our range of proprietary continuous-flow reactors facilitate the cost-effective scale-up of different MOF syntheses, while maintaining high product quality. Through rapid prototyping at lab-scale (g/hr synthesis), scalable MOF synthetic procedures are developed to utilise mild reaction conditions and raw materials that are low cost and abundant to source at large scale. Our reactor technology has enabled the successful demonstration of multiple MOF compositions, firstly at lab scale (g/hr), pilot (kg/hr), and then production scale (currently at 100s kg/hr with a view to increase further). An example of a MOF that has been upscaled using our continuous-flow process is a based on a UTSA-16 structure, which this presentation will detail. Promethean’s high throughput flow reactors have enabled the production of industrially viable volumes, thereby facilitating pilot scale demonstration of MOFs in real world applications. This presentation will also describe the successful manufacture of 50 kg of the UTSA-16 MOF, and its implementation as an adsorbent in a pilot scale carbon capture demonstration unit, where it retained its structure and performance after exposure to real flue gas.
Bio
Dr. Leah Matsinha is the R&D Manager at Promethean Particles, based in Nottingham, UK. She holds a PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and has over 15 years of experience as a synthetic chemist, specializing in the synthesis and characterisation of transition metal complexes and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). At Promethean Particles, she leads a team of chemists focused on developing scalable synthetic routes for MOFs to support scale-up using the company’s proprietary continuous flow reactors. She also has extensive experience in the application and testing of MOFs for carbon dioxide capture, gas separation, and gas storage.