SBIR-STTR Award

OCO proposes to build and demonstrate for the U.S. Army a prototype bench-scale modular reactor system that makes both a more effective and more earth-friendly deicing chemical, Potassium Formate, at a lower cost than current industrial methods. A cheaper process for making Potassium Formate is essential for displacing the use of road salt as a deicer. 99% of all deicing salts used in the US are chloride-based and cost the US economy over $100B/ yr ($3B of this cost is bourne by the US military itself). The multiple reasons for the negative impact of chloride-based salt use include: accelerated vehicle and infrastructure corrosion, water table chlorination, roadside vegetation poisoning and soil damage. Even though Potassium Formate is superior to chloride-based salts in terms of deicing performance and environmental impact, it is still more expensive to make and apply than chloride-based salts. The process proposed will lower the production cost of Potassium Formate to less than $800/ton. This is due, in part, because the process uses earth-abundant and low-cost feed stocks: carbon dioxide, water and salt (KCl); and is powered by renewable electricity, instead of higher priced materials and fossil fuels. The Potassium Formate made will be produced on-demand in an application-ready state achieving the desired concentration of Potassium Formate needed to inhibit or melt snow and ice. OCO will achieve this by performing design, engineering and testing work to modify its existing proven electro-chemical reactor design for making formic acid. This existing design produces potassium formate as an intermediate for the ultimate production of formic acid and uses CO2 and water as feedstocks. The existing design will be modified and then optimized so as to directly synthesize potassium formate at higher concentrations (40%) that the current design (14%) while maintaining equivalent efficiency and performance metrics. Net Potassium addition to the process will be achieved through the electrochemical dissolution of potassium chloride in a separate electro-dialysis reactor unit. The proposed design will require a modified catholyte chemistry, thicker and more selective ion exchange membranes, and a potassium cation charging system. The proposed process will electro-catalytically reduce solubilized CO2 with one Potassium and one Hydrogen cation each. These cations are respectively obtained from the potassium cation from dissolved salt (KCl) and from water (via electrolysis) in a 3 chamber electrolyzer. The proposed work to design, build, demonstrate and continuously operate this system for >200 hrs, will take 20 weeks. A Phase I option to enhance system performance and extend operating life to 1000 hrs will take an additional 12 weeks. This work will demonstrate the technical feasibility of converting low-cost abundant feedstocks into a value-added chemical, potassium formate, at a lower cost than existing processes.

OCO’s goal for Phase II is to quickly reach a minimum viable commercial-scale level of maturity for its direct electrochemical potassium formate generation technology-based manufacturing system from its current TRL-4 state to TRL-6 and meeting otr exceeding all Phase II US Army specified objectives. In Phase II, OCO will develop and demonstrate the successful operation of a complete, full-size commercial reactor cell of size 1.3 m2, capable of producing >100 lb./day of potassium formate continuously at a concentration level of 40%. We propose achieving this in two scale-up steps at two progressively larger cell sizes. In order to attain the optimally operating commercial size reactor system, OCO will perform a step-wise, size scale-up and optimization of its process technology during Phase II. This scale-up process will begin with a 100cm2 system(“small cell”), scale to an intermediate 1725cm2 system (“tall cell”), and complete with a 1.3m2 system (“full cell”). The full cell size was selected to exactly match the existing standard material and form factor attributes common to the high-volume Chlor-alkali industry’s use of electrochemical reactor cells. By leveraging an existing and at-scale supply chain, built on standard-sized components, we will be able to scale-up faster, using lower-cost parts and reduce non-recurring engineering costs associated with development. The production rate of the full cell (107 lb./day) is significantly larger than the DOD target (20 lb./day) and could be achieved by numbering up two tall cells (each having a 14 lb./day capacity) rather than commit to an additional challenge of developing and optimizing a significantly larger (about 8x) full cell. However, a full cell system, as targeted by OCO, achieves the end-state of a commercially standardized minimum viable size which will demonstrate the technical maturity and lead to more rapid deployment of this technology for DOD and other potential commercial interests. It is the intent of OCO to supplement the DOD support in Phase II with its own financial cost-share contribution (investor funding etc., amounting to an estimated $350,000) to achieve and demonstrate this ‘commercial level’ production feasibility. OCO has the means and expertise, to build on its Phase I accomplishments, to meet and exceed DOD’s Phase II targets. The potassium formate will be generated in the form of a 40wt% concentrated solution without need of further separation or concentration directly from OCO’s electrochemical process utilizing non-flammable, inexpensive and widely available feedstocks (recycled carbon dioxide, water and potassium sulfate) and renewable electricity operating at ambient temperature(25C) and pressure (1 atm). OCO will also demonstrate that the pilot system’s catalytic performance and degradation operated continuously over 200 hours as a basis for projecting a level of durability sufficient to last for over 8000 hours.