NRL Seawater Carbon Capture Process Receives U.S. Patent

The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), Material Science and Technology Division, has been granted U.S. patent 9,303,323 for a method to simultaneously extract carbon dioxide and hydrogen from seawater. This single process provides all the raw materials necessary for the production of synthetic liquid hydrocarbon fuels. Synthetic fuel production can offer logistical and operational advantages to the Navy by reducing dependency on future in-theater fossil fuel availability and by reducing vulnerabilities of unprotected fuel delivery at sea. The Electrolytic Cation Exchange Module (E-CEM), developed at NRL, provides the Navy the capability to produce fuel stock (LNG, CNG, F-76, JP-5, etc.) at sea, or in remote locations.