Advances in Mineral Carbonation

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Mineralogy and Biogeochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2024 | Viewed by 7491

Special Issue Editors

Western Australian School of Mines: Minerals, Energy and Chemical Engineering, Curtin University, Bentley, WA 6102, Australia
Interests: carbon capture, storage, and utilization (CCUS); mineral carbonation; carbonate product development; green building materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia
Interests: mineral carbonation; waste valorization
Chemical, Polymer and Composite Materials Engineering Department, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore 39161, Pakistan
Interests: mineral carbonation; concurrent grinding; CCUS; emission reduction
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) is critical to meeting the climate goals and urgently reaching net-zero emissions. Among the technologies developed in this area, mineral carbonation (MC) is a major player that could eventually lead to us storing more carbon dioxide emissions than we produce and having a more sustainable future. With the increasing level of investment in MC techniques driven by the industry demand to decarbonize, we have witnessed significant improvements toward cost-effective, rapid, and large-scale CO2 sequestration via ex situ mineral carbonation. These developments bring us another step closer to a low-carbon economy.

In line with all these developments, research and innovation in this field are expanding at a rapid rate, and we in the journal of Minerals are committed to facilitating the communication of high-quality studies in this field. This Special Issue focuses on the latest fundamental and applied studies in this field. The topic includes but is not limited to:

  • Advances in material pre-treatment for MC;
  • Advances in the kinetics of the process;
  • Advances in analytical techniques;
  • Industrial waste processing via MC (mine tailings, fly ash, steel slag, etc.);
  • Advanced carbonate products (meeting market requirements for carbonate materials);
  • Managing MC waste stream (silica rich residue).

Dr. Faezeh Farhang
Dr. Timothy Oliver
Dr. Muhammad Imran Rashid
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • ex situ mineral carbonation
  • magnesium silicate rocks
  • mine tailings
  • Ca and Mg leaching
  • steel slag
  • carbonation process
  • carbonates material

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 3858 KiB  
Article
Mineral Carbonation Potential (MCP) of Mine Waste Material: Derivation of an MCP Parameter
by Anthony Jacobs, Michael Hitch, Sara Mosallanejad, Tejas Bhatelia, Jiajie Li and Faezeh Farhang
Minerals 2023, 13(9), 1129; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13091129 - 26 Aug 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 925
Abstract
The heterogenous mineralogy of ultramafic deposits hosting mining operations makes it challenging to accurately determine the waste rock’s mineral carbonation potential (MCP). Additionally, the significantly higher carbonation capabilities of olivine than serpentine add to the difficulty. To address this issue, in this work, [...] Read more.
The heterogenous mineralogy of ultramafic deposits hosting mining operations makes it challenging to accurately determine the waste rock’s mineral carbonation potential (MCP). Additionally, the significantly higher carbonation capabilities of olivine than serpentine add to the difficulty. To address this issue, in this work, a new and unique tool called the MCP calculator was developed as a Microsoft ExcelTM spreadsheet to accurately determine the amount of anthropogenic CO2 that a given rock mass can sequester through mineral carbonation. The program estimates the modal mineral abundance of ultramafic rocks to aid in MCP estimation. This tool is designed to be cost-effective and tailored for use by the mining industry, utilising abundant lithogeochemical data to evaluate their deposit as a potential substrate for industrial mineral carbonation operations. The paper introduces the MCP calculator, outlines a framework for developing the MCP parameter, and presents an example of its application. The calculator is specific to the mineral assemblage investigated at the Turnagain ultramafic complex in northern British Columbia but can be adjusted to study comparable deposits. The paper acknowledges that using waste rock in a mineral carbonation operation requires economic and practical decisions beyond the scope of the research. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Mineral Carbonation)
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12 pages, 895 KiB  
Communication
Determination of the CO2 Uptake of Construction Products Manufactured by Mineral Carbonation
by Peter Nielsen and Mieke Quaghebeur
Minerals 2023, 13(8), 1079; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13081079 - 14 Aug 2023
Viewed by 1028
Abstract
Mineral carbonation is a technology for capturing and storing CO2 in solid minerals. When mineral carbonation is used to produce construction materials, the quantification of the CO2 uptake of these products is of the utmost importance, as it is used to [...] Read more.
Mineral carbonation is a technology for capturing and storing CO2 in solid minerals. When mineral carbonation is used to produce construction materials, the quantification of the CO2 uptake of these products is of the utmost importance, as it is used to calculate the CO2 footprint of the product and/or carbon offset. The CO2 uptake is generally determined by measuring the CO2 content of a material before and after accelerated carbonation. This approach, however, does not take hydration and dehydroxylation reactions into account that may occur during carbonation, and it can therefore under- or overestimate the CO2 uptake. Thus, a more accurate and practical method to determine CO2 uptake, which also accounts for hydration and dehydroxylation reactions, is proposed in this paper. This method is based on analytical methods to determine the dry mass and the CO2 content of the solid products before and after carbonation, and on the calculation of the CO2 uptake by the following equation: CO2 uptake (wt.%) = CO2 carbonated (wt.%) × (weight after carbonation (g)/weight before carbonation (g) − CO2 initial (wt.%), with CO2 carbonated being the CO2 content in g/100 g dried carbonated material, and CO2 initial being the CO2 content in g/100 g dried initial material, i.e., before carbonation. The “weight before carbonation” is the dry weight of the initial material, and the “weight after carbonation” is the product’s dry weight after carbonation. In this paper, we show that up to 44% under- or overestimation of CO2 uptake can occur when hydration and dehydroxylation reactions are not taken into account during mineral carbonation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Mineral Carbonation)
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16 pages, 4893 KiB  
Article
The Influence of Liquid/Solid Ratio and Pressure on the Natural and Accelerated Carbonation of Alkaline Wastes
by Giampiero Pasquale Sorrentino, Renato Guimarães, Bruno Valentim and Elza Bontempi
Minerals 2023, 13(8), 1060; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13081060 - 11 Aug 2023
Viewed by 956
Abstract
The purpose of this research is to assess the yield and reaction rate potential of carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration through mineralisation using readily available and inexpensive resources by exploiting waste materials. In this case, a blend of four different kinds of [...] Read more.
The purpose of this research is to assess the yield and reaction rate potential of carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration through mineralisation using readily available and inexpensive resources by exploiting waste materials. In this case, a blend of four different kinds of ashes and combustion by-products were used, namely, coal fly ash (CFA), flue gas desulphurization (FGD) residues, municipal solid waste incineration fly ashes (MSWI FA) and bottom ash (MSWI BA), produced at the same location. To highlight the impact of these materials on the carbonation process, various factors were analysed, including particle size distribution, immediately soluble contents, mineralogy, particles’ detailed structure, and chemical composition. After preparing the samples, two carbonation processes were tested: natural carbonation and accelerated carbonation. To evaluate the impact of the water content on the reaction rate and yield of the mineral carbonation, various liquid-to-solid (L/S) ratios were used. The results demonstrate that the water content and pressure play a significant role in the CO2 sequestration during the accelerated carbonation, the higher the L/S, the greater the yields, which can reach up to 152 g CO2/kg with MSWI FA, while no substantial difference seems to emerge in the case of the natural carbonation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Mineral Carbonation)
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15 pages, 2484 KiB  
Article
Effect of Cation Chloride Concentration on the Dissolution Rates of Basaltic Glass and Labradorite: Application to Subsurface Carbon Storage
by Kiflom G. Mesfin, Domenik Wolff-Boenisch, Sigurdur R. Gislason and Eric H. Oelkers
Minerals 2023, 13(5), 682; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13050682 - 17 May 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1116
Abstract
The steady-state dissolution rates of basaltic glass and labradorite were measured in the presence of 10 to 700 × 10−3 mol·kg−1 aqueous NaCl, KCl, CaCl2, and MgCl2 at 25 °C. All rates were measured in mixed flow reactors, [...] Read more.
The steady-state dissolution rates of basaltic glass and labradorite were measured in the presence of 10 to 700 × 10−3 mol·kg−1 aqueous NaCl, KCl, CaCl2, and MgCl2 at 25 °C. All rates were measured in mixed flow reactors, and at pH~3.6 by the addition of HCl to the reactive fluids. The steady-state basaltic glass dissolution rates, based on Si release, increased by ~0.3 log units in the presence of 10−3 mol·kg−1 of either CaCl2 or MgCl2 compared to their rates in 10−3 mol·kg−1 of NaCl or KCl. In contrast, the steady-state dissolution rates of labradorite decreased by ~0.4 log units in the presence of 10−3 mol·kg−1 of either CaCl2 or MgCl2 compared to their rates in 10−3 mol·kg−1 of NaCl or KCl. These contrasting behaviours likely reflect the varying effects of these cations on the stability of rate controlling Si-rich activated complexes on the surface of the dissolving solids. On average, the Si release rates of these solids are similar to each other and increase slightly with increasing ionic strength. As the pH of water charged with 10 to 30 bars CO2 is ~3.6, the results of this study indicate that both basaltic glass and labradorite dissolution will likely be effective at increasing the pH and adding Ca to the aqueous phase in saline fluids. This observation supports potential efforts to store carbon through its mineralization in saline aquifers containing Ca-bearing feldspar and in submarine basalts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Mineral Carbonation)
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19 pages, 2221 KiB  
Article
Development of CO2 Absorption Using Blended Alkanolamine Absorbents for Multicycle Integrated Absorption–Mineralization
by Chanakarn Thamsiriprideeporn and Suekane Tetsuya
Minerals 2023, 13(4), 487; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13040487 - 30 Mar 2023
Viewed by 1145
Abstract
The present study aimed to investigate the feasibility of blended amine absorbents in improving the CO2 alkanolamine-based absorption of multicycle integrated absorption–mineralization (multicycle IAM) under standard operating conditions (20–25 °C and 1 atm). Multicycle IAM is a promising approach that transforms CO [...] Read more.
The present study aimed to investigate the feasibility of blended amine absorbents in improving the CO2 alkanolamine-based absorption of multicycle integrated absorption–mineralization (multicycle IAM) under standard operating conditions (20–25 °C and 1 atm). Multicycle IAM is a promising approach that transforms CO2 emissions into valuable products such as carbonates using amine solvents and waste brine. Previously, the use of monoethanolamine (MEA) as an absorbent had limitations in terms of CO2 conversion and absorbent degradation, which led to the exploration of blended alkanolamine absorbents, such as diethanolamine, triethanolamine, and aminomethyl propanol (AMP) combined with MEA. The blended absorbent was evaluated in terms of the absorption performance and carbonate production in continuous cycles of absorption, precipitation/regeneration, and preparation. The results showed that the fourth cycle of the blend of 15 wt.% AMP and 5 wt.% MEA achieved high CO2 absorption and conversion efficiency, with approximately 87% of the absorbed CO2 being converted into precipitated carbonates in 43 min and a slight degradation efficiency of approximately 45%. This blended absorbent can improve the efficiency of capturing and converting CO2 when compared to the use of a single MEA, which is one of the alternative options for the development of CO2 capture and utilization in the future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Mineral Carbonation)
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6 pages, 1393 KiB  
Communication
Bending Improvement of CO2-Activated Materials through Crosslinking of Oligomers
by Yunhua Zhang, Qing Wang, Zhipeng Zhang and Pengxiang Lei
Minerals 2023, 13(3), 352; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13030352 - 02 Mar 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1048
Abstract
Calcium carbonate is the main carbonation product of most CO2-activated materials (CAMs); however, its brittle nature usually leads to low bending, which represents the major drawback of CAM in its application as a construction material. Herein, the bending of CAM was [...] Read more.
Calcium carbonate is the main carbonation product of most CO2-activated materials (CAMs); however, its brittle nature usually leads to low bending, which represents the major drawback of CAM in its application as a construction material. Herein, the bending of CAM was greatly improved by the addition of triethylamine (TEA) in the carbonation process. Both the grain size of the carbonation product, i.e., calcite, and the intensity ratio of the crystal planes from (104) to (113) obviously increased with the addition of TEA, as shown by the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements, suggesting the crosslinking of oligomers. Compared with the CAM without TEA, the flexural strength of CAM was significantly improved under optimized curing conditions, which was attributed to the crosslinking of oligomers formed with TEA addition. The present work may provide a promising strategy for improving the bending of CAM materials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Mineral Carbonation)
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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

1. Experimental evaluation of CO2-rich water interaction with Paleogene basalt samples for mineral carbonation potential, Malaysia

Author: Ayub Syifa Afiza, Tsegab Haylay, M Zuhaili Kashim, Zainol Affendi Abu Bakar

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