At Achema in June, GIG Karasek GmbH (Gloggnitz, Austria; www.gigkarasek.com) introduced the ECO2Cell, an electrochemical CO2-recycling technology that utilizes proprietary catalysts to convert captured carbon dioxide into a range of chemicals. Using only water, CO2 and electricity as process inputs, the unit can be tuned to make both single-carbon products, such as carbon monoxide, formic acid and methanol, as well as multi-carbon products like ethanol and acetic acid.
This new electrolchemical cell technology was launched at Achema (Source: Scott Jenkins)
The technology works by drawing CO2 and water into an electrochemical cell and applying electrical voltage. Reduction of CO2 occurs at the cathode, while water oxidation generates oxygen at the anode.
The chemicals produced from CO2 depend on the manipulation of the reaction conditions and the level of voltage applied. “Product selection can be controlled by the choice of catalyst, the electrode materials, current density and electrolyte composition,” explains Andreas Schnitzhofer, managing director of GIG Karasek.
The company has developed proprietary catalysts for the ECO2Cell along with a partner. Catalyst material is coated onto the electrodes within the electrochemical cell, which has three compartments, allowing the unit to generate multiple products simultaneously.
The laboratory-scale unit can convert up to 300 L/h of high-purity CO2 into CO, with pure H2 and O2 as byproducts. GIG Karasek is working on scaling up the ECO2Cell to industrially relevant sizes.