Atmospheric CO^sub 2^ Sequestration in Iron and Steel Slag: Consett, County Durham, United Kingdom

Carbonate formation in waste from the steel industry could constitute a nontrivial proportion of the global requirements for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere at a potentially low cost. To utilize this potential, we examined atmospheric carbon dioxide sequestration in a >20 million ton...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental science & technology 2018-07, Vol.52 (14), p.7892
Main Authors: Mayes, William Matthew, Riley, Alex L, Gomes, Helena I, Brabham, Peter, Hamlyn, Joanna, Pullin, Huw, Renforth, Phil
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atmospheric chemistry
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide fixation
Carbon dioxide removal
Carbon monoxide
Carbon sequestration
Carbonates
Drainage
Drainage water
Geographic information systems
Iron
Iron and steel industry
Organic chemistry
Oxygen isotopes
Slag
Spatial analysis
Steel
Steel industry
Water chemistry
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Carbonate formation in waste from the steel industry could constitute a nontrivial proportion of the global requirements for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere at a potentially low cost. To utilize this potential, we examined atmospheric carbon dioxide sequestration in a >20 million ton legacy slag deposit in northern England, United Kingdom. Carbonates formed from the drainage water of the heap had stable carbon and oxygen isotope values between −12 and −25 ‰ and −5 and −18 ‰ for δ13C and δ18O, respectively, suggesting atmospheric carbon dioxide sequestration in high-pH solutions. From the analyses of solution saturation states, we estimate that between 280 and 2900 tons of CO2 have precipitated from the drainage waters. However, by combining a 37 year long data set of the drainage water chemistry with geospatial analysis, we estimate that
ISSN:0013-936X