Device and method for conversion of carbon dioxide to hydrocarbon molecules

Abstract

A liquid chromatography (LC) column includes a wall having a length along a central axis from the inlet end to the outlet end, the wall enclosing a column interior and having a column radius relative to the central axis, the wall comprising a structured portion configured such that the column radius varies along the length; and a plurality of particles packed in the column interior, wherein at least some of the particles are in contact with the structured portion.

1 . An electrochemical device for conversion of CO 2  into hydrocarbon products comprising:
 a cell stack sandwiched between a first cover plate and a second cover plate, wherein the cell stack comprises at least one full cell comprising:
 a flow plate comprising inter-connected gas flow channels; 
 a negatively-charged cathode catalytic reaction zone comprising a cathode; 
 a membrane separator; 
 a positively charged anode catalytic reaction zone comprising an anode and a porous Nickel alloy sheet of uniform pores in contact with the membrane separator; and 
 a flow plate containing inter-connected liquid flow channels, 
 wherein at least one of the first cover plate or second cover plate comprise:
 gas inlet ports connected with the inter-connected gas flow channels in the cell stack configured to introduce CO 2 -containing feed gas into the negatively-charged cathode catalytic reaction zone; and 
 gas outlet ports connected with the inter-connected gas flow channels in the cell stack configured to discharge of gaseous products and un-converted feed gas; 
 liquid inlet ports connected with the inter-connected liquid flow channels in the cell stack configured to introduce a liquid electrolyte solution into the positively charged anode catalytic reaction zone; and 
 liquid outlet ports connected with the inter-connected liquid flow channels in the cell stack configured to discharge of oxygen product gas and liquid products; 
 
   wherein the liquid electrolyte solution has pH greater than 7;   wherein the electrochemical device allows operation at gas flow channel pressure higher than the liquid channel pressure at reaction temperature and under applied voltage between the cathode and the anode.   
     
     
         2 . The electrochemical device of  claim 1 , wherein the membrane separator is a porous ceramic membrane coated on the porous Nickel support sheet in the anode catalytic reaction zone at a thickness in a range from 5 to 40 μm and with pore size in a range from 2 to 100 nm. 
     
     
         3 . The electrochemical device of  claim 1 , wherein the membrane separator is a thin polymeric membrane on the porous Nickel support sheet in the anode catalytic reaction zone at a thickness in a range from 0.02 to 0.2 mm. 
     
     
         4 . The electrochemical device of  claim 1 , wherein the membrane separator is a polymeric membrane of thickness in a range from 0.02 to 0.2 mm on a porous ceramic coatings of a thickness in a range from 5.0 to 40 μm on the porous Nickel support sheet in the anode catalytic reaction zone. 
     
     
         5 . The electrochemical device of  claim 1 , wherein the negatively-charged cathode catalytic reaction zone comprises a copper catalyst coated on a porous carbon support sheet, wherein the copper catalytic coating thickness is from about 100 to 5000 nm, and wherein the porous carbon sheet has a thickness in a range from about 0.2 to about 3.0 mm and a porosity in a range from about 40 to 90%. 
     
     
         6 . The electrochemical device of  claim 1 , wherein the negatively-charged cathode catalytic reaction zone comprises a copper catalyst layer of a thickness from about 0.005 to 0.2 mm sandwiched between the membrane separator and a porous carbon support sheet, wherein the copper catalyst layer comprises copper catalyst particle sizes ranged from 2 to 200 m at volume fraction of 0.1 to 0.4, and wherein the porous carbon sheet has a thickness in a range from about 0.2 to about 3.0 mm and a porosity ranging from about 40 to 90%. 
     
     
         7 . The electrochemical device of  claim 1 , wherein the negatively-charged cathode catalytic reaction zone comprises a copper catalyst coated inside a porous carbon support sheet, wherein the porous carbon sheet has a thickness in a range from about 0.2 to about 3.0 mm and has a porosity in a range from about 40 to 90%. 
     
     
         8 . The electrochemical device of  claim 1 , wherein the negatively-charged cathode catalytic reaction zone comprises at least one of an electron or a pressure distributor in contact with the inter-connected gas flow channels, wherein the pressure distributor is one of metal meshes, foams or screens. 
     
     
         9 . The electrochemical device of  claim 1 , wherein the positively-charged anode catalytic reaction zone comprises at least one of an electron or a pressure distributor in contact with the inter-connected liquid flow channels, wherein the pressure distributor is one of metal meshes, foams or screens. 
     
     
         10 . The electrochemical device of  claim 2 , wherein the membrane separator and the positively-charged anode catalytic reaction zone are integrated into one plate of a sheet as an anodic membrane electrode assembly comprising a porous ceramic coating on a porous Nickel alloy support sheet. 
     
     
         11 . The electrochemical device of  claim 2 , wherein the membrane separator, the positively-charged anode catalytic reaction zone, and the negatively-charged cathode catalytic reaction zone are integrated into a unit cell plate comprising a supporting frame that supports the unit cell plate. 
     
     
         12 . The electrochemical device of  claim 1 , wherein the cell stack is stacked in sequential electrical charging order comprising a bipolar plate between two adjacent cells. 
     
     
         13 . The electrochemical device of  claim 1 , wherein the cell stack is stacked in an alternative charging order comprising one of the inter-connected gas flow channels placed between the two adjacent cells. 
     
     
         14 . The electrochemical device of  claim 1 , wherein the cell stack is electrically connected in series for all the cells to be charged at the same voltage differential between the cathode and the anode. 
     
     
         15 . The electrochemical device of  claim 1 , wherein the feed gas introduced from the gas inlet ports connected with the inter-connected gas flow channels in the cell stack configured to introduce CO 2 -containing feed gas into the negatively-charged cathode catalytic reaction zone is uniformly distributed among all of the inter-connected gas flow channels in the cell stack. 
     
     
         16 . The electrochemical device of  claim 1 , wherein the liquid electrolyte solution introduced from the liquid inlet ports connected with the inter-connected liquid flow channels in the cell stack is uniformly distributed among all of the inter-connected liquid flow channels in the cell stack. 
     
     
         17 . The electrochemical device of  claim 1 , wherein the hydrocarbon products are C2+ hydrocarbons comprising at least one of ethylene, ethanol, propanol, acetone, acetone, acetate, and their mixtures. 
     
     
         18 . The electrochemical device of  claim 1 , wherein the porous Nickel alloy sheet has a thickness in a range from about 40 to 200 μm, and has a 35-60% porosity, and a mean pore size of 0.2 to 2.0 μm, free of any pores above 10 μm. 
     
     
         19 . The electrochemical device of  claim 1 , wherein the CO 2 -containing feed gas contains water vapor of about 2 to 50 vol %. 
     
     
         20 . The electrochemical device of  claim 1 , wherein the CO 2 -containing feed gas contains less than 2 vol % oxygen.