Oregon State University
Date: 2022-01-10
In Corvallis, Oregon State University led researchers are touting a new three-dimensional, lanthanide-based metal organic framework (MOF) that can catalyze the production of cyclic carbonates while scrubbing CO2 from factory flue gases or from biogas -- a mix of carbon dioxide, methane and other gases.

A MOF is an inorganic-organic hybrid, a crystalline porous material made up of positively charged metal ions surrounded by organic "linker" molecules, in this case lanthanide metals and tetracarboxylate linkers. The metal ions make nodes that bind the linkers' arms to form a repeating structure that looks something like a cage; the structure has nanosized pores that adsorb gases, similar to a sponge. MOFs can be designed with a variety of components, which determine the MOF's properties.

Lanthanide-based materials are generally stable because of the relatively large size of lanthanide ions, as well with lanthanide MOFs, where the acidic metals form strong bonds with the linkers, keeping the MOFs stable in water and at high temperatures which is important because flue gases and biogas are hot as well as moisture rich.

Kyriakos.Stylianou@oregonstate.edu, www.oregonstate.edu

More Low-Carbon Energy News Oregon State University,  Carbon Emissions,  CO2,  

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
Date: 2021-02-26
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) reports it has issued a lease for the first wave energy research project to demonstrate the viability of wave energy in federal waters off the U.S. West Coast.

The federal marine hydrokinetic (MHK) energy research lease was offered to Oregon State University for the proposed PacWave South open ocean wave energy test center. The PacWave project will incorporate four test berths to support the testing of up to 20 wave energy converter (WEC) devices, with an installed capacity not to exceed 20 MW.

MHK technology harnesses energy from ocean waves, tides and currents and converts it into electricity. A WEC device converts the kinetic and potential energy associated with moving ocean waves into electrical or mechanical energy, BOEM noted. (Source: BOEM, 24 Feb., 2021) Contact: BOEM, Connie Gillette, Public Affairs, Walter Cruickshank, Acting Dir., (202) 208-6474, www.boem.gov

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Oregon State University
Date: 2020-05-01
In Corvallis, an international research collaboration led by Oregon State University (OSU) has taken an important step toward the commercially viable manufacture of biobutanol transportation fuel. The researchers claims a key breakthrough is the development of a new metal organic framework (MOF) that can efficiently separate biobutanol from the broth of fermented biomass needed for the fuel's production. The researchers are now looking to partner with industry to try to scale up the separation method using the new MOF.

Butanol, aka butyl alcohol, is more closely related to gasoline than ethanol and can be synthesized from petroleum or made from biomass. Bioethanol -- ethyl alcohol -- is a common biofuel additive but contains significantly less energy per gallon than gasoline and can also be harmful to engine components, according to the rlease.

The process of creating biobutanol is known as ABE fermentation -- acetone-butanol-ethanol. It yields a watery broth that maxes out at about 2 pct butanol by weight. Hence the need for a separation tool that can work well in an aqueous environment and also in the presence of organic solvents, in this case acetone, which is a key ingredient in products like nail polish remover and paint thinner, the release notes. The novel MOF based on copper ions and carborane-carboxylate ligands (mCB-MOF-1) can pull butanol from the fermentation broth, via adsorption, with greater efficiency than distillation or other existing method, according to the release.

The research, which was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, was supported by Oregon State University, MINECO, the Generalitat de Catalunya, the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the UE Feder Program. (Source: Oregon State University, Website, 29 April, 2020) Contact: Oregon State University College of Science, Kyriakos Stylianou, Lead Researcher, 541-737-9400, Kyriakos.Stylianou@oregonstate.edu, www.oregonstste.edu

More Low-Carbon Energy News Biobutanol,  Alternative Fuel,  

US DOE
Date: 2019-10-28
In Washington, the US DOE reports it will allocate $28 million in funding to to 13 projects aimed at wind energy cost reductions, with a focus on offshore, distributed and onshore utility-scale wind.

Of the total, as much as $10 million will go to two offshore wind technology demonstration projects -- Lake Erie Energy Development Corp (LEEDCo) will deploy innovative sensing technologies for tracking bird activity near wind turbines, while the University of Maine will develop a floating substructure design for a 10 MW -- 12 MW wind turbine and install it at a project off Maine.

Roughly $7 million will support the testing of innovative offshore wind technologies at national-level testing facilities, with the funding to be shared by six projects including Clemson University which is aiming to improve offshore wind turbine nacelle testing. In another project, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Centre in Boston is seeking to upgrade its testing facility to make possible the structural testing of wind turbine blades with lengths of between 85 metres and 120 metres.

Other recipients include Oregon State University of Corvallis for tests on the combined effects of wind and waves on floating offshore wind turbines. Four of the 13 selected projects will receive a total of $6 million to support rural utilities by developing technologies that integrate wind with other distributed energy resources. (Source: US DOE, 23 Oct., 2019)

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