Abstract: A method and apparatus are disclosed for sequestering carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide and a reductant are fed into a combustion chamber and burned. The reductant forms an oxide with oxygen from the carbon dioxide, generating an oxidized reductant and carbon which are exhausted from the combustion chamber and separated. The oxidize reductant is then itself reduced to form reclaimed reductant, which is used to provide the reductant for reducing the carbon dioxide. The oxidized reductant is reduced by disposing the oxidized reductant in an inert environment and exposing the oxidized reductant to electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength for freeing oxygen from the oxidized reductant. The electromagnetic radiation is preferably provided by light having a wavelength which is readily absorbed by oxygen, such as light emitted by a YAG laser. Preferably the reductant is provided by a metal, such as magnesium.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
November 10, 2010
Date of Patent:
May 20, 2014
Assignee:
Lynn L. Northrup, Jr., Incorporated
Inventors:
Robert P. Northrup, Dwight Hunter Washburne, Lynn L. Northrup, Jr.