CO2 - an Important and Valuable Chemical for the Manufacturing Industry  

   CO₂ - An Important and Valuable Chemical for the Manufacturing  Industry

As the Power industry struggles to justify the economics of meeting the EPA regulations and stay in the business, this work examines one possible alternative to justify the business decision. It is known that the Power industry is exploring ways to minimize the carbon emission by changing the mode of operation or the feedstock for the energy generation at a cost, but, evaluating current set up while developing attractive revenue stream may help the company optimize the investment.  

While it is realized that CO₂ is both high profile greenhouse gas and a valuable market commodity, there is potential to benefit from CO₂ capture. This study looks into making CO₂ a valuable product that can generate attractive revenue and enjoy the economic benefits. The current CO₂ market is served by complex supply chain, where the current suppliers produce crude CO₂, purify it to liquid and deliver to the distributors and the end users. Per 2014 data for US, out of 40,000 tpd of CO₂ produced in US, it was by Ethanol plants (36%), H₂ refining operation (21%), Ammonia plants (20%), Wells (19%) and other sources (4%) and hardly any CO₂ supplied by the power industry.  

CO₂ has found excellent use as a valuable chemical in the manufacturing industry such as food processing – preservation & packaging industry, Enhanced Oil Recovery,  Urea fertilizer production, Beverage carbonation, coffee decaffeination, Pharmaceuticals and medicine, Horticulture, Fire suppressant, in welding industry & laser production, for plants health, as refrigerant, as neutralizer in alkaline water, propellant for aerosol, , in metal industry, as fumigant to remove infestation. The food and USP grade CO₂ has added value.

This work examines the US CO₂ market and believes that making the valuable By Product Synergy ( BPS) of CO₂ can generate good revenue stream and minimize the financial burden while meeting desired EPA requirements. While participating in CO₂ market will require infrastructure and resources to penetrate the market once the product is made to meet the food grade or pharmaceutical grade quality specifications. The author examines key drives in different regions of the US and end users.