Recent developments and challenges of aqueous mineral carbonation: a review

Abstract

Aqueous mineral carbonation is the most selected ‘ex-situ’ mineral carbonation route under research scrutiny and is among the earliest routes studied on a pilot scale. This review summarises the recent advancements in aqueous mineral carbonation and discusses the current frontiers, research gaps, and future perspectives of the process. It also provides useful insights into the current practices and conveys the required actions to overcome the present challenges in the field. The key factors hindering the successful deployment of the technology on a large scale are the high cost of operation, energy intensity, slow reaction, and low carbon dioxide fixation efficiency ratio. Once the current challenges are circumvented, this aqueous route can stand as a potentially viable carbon sequestration technology for application in small-to-medium scale carbon dioxide emitters. The exponential increase in the number of studies and noticeable pilot-scale initiatives in recent years indicate that the aqueous mineral carbonation research is progressing in the right direction towards developing the technology as a promising, economically viable, and sustainable industrial carbon dioxide sequestration method.