IIT Madras Conducts Research on CO2 Sinks in the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal; Check Details Here

New Delhi: Indian Institute of Technology(IIT) Madras has achieved a new milestone and made a discovery that the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal can be used for capturing and storing substantial amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2).

The research conducted by IITM further declared that the CO2 can be permanently sequestered in the ocean as solid hydrate below depths of 500 meters using liquid CO2. This research will potentially aid in achieving carbon neutrality for industrial clusters. The research method was named ‘CO2 Sequestration’ and it is the first of its kind in India to help achieve climate change and national decarbonisation goals. Another objective behind this research is to reduce carbon emissions from industrial areas.

Key Features of CO2 Sequestration Research Method

Prof. Jitendra Sangwai from the Department of Chemical Engineering at IIT Madras led the research, along with Mr. Yogendra Kumar Mishra, a Research Scholar under the Prime Minister's Research Fellowship at IIT Madras.

The Captured CO2 has the potential to crystallise into an environmentally friendly substance called 'Gas Hydrates'. Approximately 150-170 cubic meters of CO2 can be trapped by a cubic meter of gas hydrate in ocean depths exceeding 500 meters.

This research program significantly promises to reduce carbon emissions in India's industrial sectors. The research presents methodologies for large-scale CO2 sequestration in subsea sediments, contributing to India's efforts to achieve net-zero emissions targets.

Potential findings of the research

The research program discovered a few findings like:

• Co2 liquid is denser than seawater below 2800 metres of sea level. So, below this level, CO2 can be stored in solid hydrate and liquid pool form.
• It prevents remission into the atmosphere due to the gravitational and permeability of subsea sediments.
• Subsea clay sediments enhance gas hydrates' mechanical and thermal durability, thereby contributing to their long-term capacity for storing CO2.

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