Rice University advances asphalt-based filter to sequester greenhouse gas at wellhead

HOUSTON – (Dec. 11, 2017) – Rice University scientists have found a way to make their asphalt-based sorbents better at capturing carbon dioxide from gas wells: Just add water.

The Rice lab of chemist James Tour discovered that treating grains of inexpensive Gilsonite asphalt with water allows the material to adsorb more than two times its weight in the greenhouse gas. The treated asphalt selects carbon dioxide over valuable methane at a ratio of more than 200-to-1.

The material performs well at ambient temperatures and under the pressures typically found at wellheads. When the pressure abates, the material releases the carbon dioxide, which can then be stored, sold for other industrial uses or pumped back downhole.

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