Advances in CCUS engineering technologies: processes, systems and applications

  • 2,971

    Total downloads

  • 22k

    Total views and downloads

Submit your idea

You will be redirected to our submission process.

Submit your manuscript summarySubmit your manuscript

About this Research Topic

Submission closed

Background

CO2 capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) has been widely recognized as a crucial part of CO2 emission reduction strategy to mitigate carbon-induced climate change. The significance of CCUS is further emphasized in the transition to a net-zero CO2 emission future with its role evolved and extended to decarbonize almost all energy-related products and services, including power, steel, cement, chemical/petrochemical, transport sectors. CCUS also provides the technology solution for negative emission by combining with bioenergy (BECCS) or through direct air capture (DAC) to balance emissions that are technically difficult or expensive to abate. It is anticipated that CCUS would contribute to 7.6 Gt/a of CO2 emission reduction to achieve net-zero emission by 2050 (International Energy Agency, 2021).

CCUS has been commercially applied in the fossil fuel industry for decades, but its operation capacity is only ~40 Mt/a CO2, which is ~0.5% of the targeted CCUS capacity in the 2050 net-zero scenario. Recognizing CCUS’s important role in net-zero transition, this decade will be critical for CCUS’s prospects that require a rapid deployment of mature CCUS technologies as well as an accelerated innovation of enabling CCUS technologies to ensure they can start to be deployed from the 2030s. It is anticipated that the 2020s will see CCUS’s widespread application not only in fossil-fuel power stations and hydrogen production where CCUS application has been technologically mature, but also in other emission-intensive industries such as cement, steel and chemical production where CCUS applications are early stage. Furthermore, negative emission technologies such as BECCS and DACCS will undergo significant performance improvement to reduce the capture cost; CO2 utilization applications including building materials, fuels, chemical production and biological conversion will become economically viable in some scenarios where cheap CO2 and renewable energy are accessible.

Deployment of these CCUS technologies requires strong support from research and development particularly the advanced engineering solutions to drive down the energy consumption and costs, which is essential for CCUS technology scale-up and wide deployment.

This Research Topic aims to provide a platform to identify, evaluate and discuss the CCUS engineering solutions that could contribute to the understanding, development and advancement of CCUS technologies and help de-risk CCUS deployment. These engineering solutions can range from process modification and equipment design to reduce capital investment and operating cost, system integration and optimisation and planning for better energy management and economic outcome, lab-/prototype-/pilot-scale demonstration and commercial scale study for technology evaluation, etc.

We welcome the experimental investigation, process simulation, dynamic modelling and techno-economic analysis of Original Research, Review and Perspective articles in the following areas, but not limited to:

• Advanced CO2 capture technologies (solvents, solid sorbents, chemical looping, calcium looping, membranes and membrane reactors, cryogenics and hybrid systems, etc.) and their applications (e.g. power station, cement, steel, and chemical/petrochemical plants)

• CO2 utilization technologies for chemicals, (e.g. polymer, urea, formic acid, ethylene), fuels production (e.g. methane, methanol, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide), building materials (e.g. concrete, aggregate), and biological conversion (e.g. algae, crop) and their applications

• CO2 storage technologies including modelling and monitoring solutions

• Technology development of negative emission technologies of BECCS and DACCS

• CCUS system integration and planning in decarbonizing power and industry sectors (e.g. through energy and economic modelling), including integration with industrial CO2 sources, integration with renewable energy system, integration between CO2 capture and utilisation

• Emerging CCUS technologies that are in low technology readiness level but have great potential for scale-up.

Keywords: CCUS, CCUS engineering, CO2 capture and storage (CCS), CO2 utilization, net-zero emission, negative emission, techno-economic, modelling

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

Topic editors

Frequently asked questions

  • Frontiers' Research Topics are collaborative hubs built around an emerging theme.Defined, managed, and led by renowned researchers, they bring communities together around a shared area of interest to stimulate collaboration and innovation.

    Unlike section journals, which serve established specialty communities, Research Topics are pioneer hubs, responding to the evolving scientific landscape and catering to new communities.

  • The goal of Frontiers' publishing program is to empower research communities to actively steer the course of scientific publishing. Our program was implemented as a three-part unit with fixed field journals, flexible specialty sections, and dynamically emerging Research Topics, connecting communities of different sizes and maturity.

    Research Topics originate from the scientific community. Many of our Research Topics are suggested by existing editorial board members who have identified critical challenges or areas of interest in their field.

  • As an editor, Research Topics will help you build your journal, as well as your community, around emerging, cutting-edge research. As research trailblazers, Research Topics attract high-quality submissions from leading experts all over the world.

    A thriving Research Topic can potentially evolve into a new specialty section if there is sustained interest and a growing community around it.

  • Each Research Topic must be approved by the specialty chief editor, and it falls under the editorial oversight of our editorial boards, supported by our in-house research integrity team. The same standards and rigorous peer review processes apply to articles published as part of a Research Topic as for any other article we publish.

    In 2023, 80% of the Research Topics we published were edited or co-edited by our editorial board members, who are already familiar with their journal's scope, ethos, and publishing model. All other topics are guest edited by leaders in their field, each vetted and formally approved by the specialty chief editor.

  • Publishing your article within a Research Topic with other related articles increases its discoverability and visibility, which can lead to more views, downloads, and citations. Research Topics grow dynamically as more published articles are added, causing frequent revisiting, and further visibility.

    As Research Topics are multidisciplinary, they are cross-listed in several fields and section journals – increasing your reach even more and giving you the chance to expand your network and collaborate with researchers in different fields, all focusing on expanding knowledge around the same important topic.

    Our larger Research Topics are also converted into ebooks and receive social media promotion from our digital marketing team.

     

  • Frontiers offers multiple article types, but it will depend on the field and section journals in which the Research Topic will be featured. The available article types for a Research Topic will appear in the drop-down menu during the submission process.

    Check available article types here 

  • Yes, we would love to hear your ideas for a topic. Most of our Research Topics are community-led and suggested by researchers in the field. Our in-house editorial team will contact you to talk about your idea and whether you’d like to edit the topic. If you’re an early-stage researcher, we will offer you the opportunity to coordinate your topic, with the support of a senior researcher as the topic editor. 

    Suggest your topic here 

  • A team of guest editors (called topic editors) lead their Research Topic. This editorial team oversees the entire process, from the initial topic proposal to calls for participation, the peer review, and final publications.

    The team may also include topic coordinators, who help the topic editors send calls for participation, liaise with topic editors on abstracts, and support contributing authors. In some cases, they can also be assigned as reviewers.

  • As a topic editor (TE), you will take the lead on all editorial decisions for the Research Topic, starting with defining its scope. This allows you to curate research around a topic that interests you, bring together different perspectives from leading researchers across different fields and shape the future of your field. 

     

    You will choose your team of co-editors, curate a list of potential authors, send calls for participation and oversee the peer review process, accepting or recommending rejection for each manuscript submitted.

  • As a topic editor, you're supported at every stage by our in-house team. You will be assigned a single point of contact to help you on both editorial and technical matters. Your topic is managed through our user-friendly online platform, and the peer review process is supported by our industry-first AI review assistant (AIRA).

  • If you’re an early-stage researcher, we will offer you the opportunity to coordinate your topic, with the support of a senior researcher as the topic editor. This provides you with valuable editorial experience, improving your ability to critically evaluate research articles and enhancing your understanding of the quality standards and requirements for scientific publishing, as well as the opportunity to discover new research in your field, and expand your professional network.

  • Yes, certificates can be issued on request. We are happy to provide a certificate for your contribution to editing a successful Research Topic.

  • Research Topics thrive on collaboration and their multi-disciplinary approach around emerging, cutting-edge themes, attract leading researchers from all over the world.

  • As a topic editor, you can set the timeline for your Research Topic, and we will work with you at your pace. Typically, Research Topics are online and open for submissions within a few weeks and remain open for participation for 6 – 12 months. Individual articles within a Research Topic are published as soon as they are ready.

    Find out more about our Research Topics

  • Our fee support program ensures that all articles that pass peer review, including those published in Research Topics, can benefit from open access – regardless of the author's field or funding situation.

    Authors and institutions with insufficient funding can apply for a discount on their publishing fees. A fee support application form is available on our website.

  • In line with our mission to promote healthy lives on a healthy planet, we do not provide printed materials. All our articles and ebooks are available under a CC-BY license, so you can share and print copies.

     

Impact

  • 22kTopic views
  • 17kArticle views
  • 2,971Article downloads
View impact