Integrated carbon capture and utilization via plasma-assisted KHCO₃ decomposition

Abstract

The carbonation of K₂CO₃ to KHCO₃ is an interesting CO₂ capture process due to its low material cost, high selectivity, and substantial CO₂ capacity. Traditionally, KHCO₃ is regenerated into K₂CO₃ through thermal decomposition. However, plasma-assisted decomposition presents a promising alternative, enabling not only CO₂ desorption but also the concurrent production of valuable products such as H₂ and CO. In this study, KHCO₃ particles in a size range of 250–355 μm were packed in a dielectric barrier discharge reactor and exposed to plasma. It was found that the decomposition of KHCO₃ in the plasma reactor is mainly driven by a thermal mechanism, and the decomposition rate was controlled by temperature increase via plasma heating. The energy consumption for decomposition is more than one order of magnitude higher compared to the thermal approach reported in the literature. However, production of CO and H₂ was achieved during plasma treatment, highlighting the potential advantage of an integrated CO₂ capture and utilization process, and the best CO₂ conversion and energy efficiency achieved were 9.0% ± 0.2% at 3.0% ± 0.1% with a syngas ratio of 0.35 ± 0.01.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

carbon capture / KHCO₃ decomposition / non-thermal plasma / dielectric barrier discharge / syngas production

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The Author(s) 2025. This article is published with open access at link.springer.com and journal.hep.com.cn