angshumanburagohain / co2-waste-to-value

Project on carbon capture and utilisation with respect to the challenge, "CO2-Waste to Value", organised by ekipa with association with EnBW

This was my first attempt at an international challenge in the theme of environment and sustainability. It was during the peak days of Covid-19 pandemic and strict social distancing rules were implemented in Germany, when Arjun and I decided to come up with a project for this challenge as we had been feeling unproductive for a couple of weeks. Due to our hitherto unawareness of ekipa, we were able to join this challenge merely 2 weeks before the deadline. After spending days thinking of an innovative process to capture and utilise CO2 we came up with CO2 capture for methanol production integrated with a medium scale biogas plant and barely made it before the deadline with an elaborate process description and a running simulation model. Among experienced researchers and industry professionals we failed to secure the top three positions. However, a personal feedback from the evaluation team revealed that we shared the topmost position with two other teams in terms of technological innovation. The drawback was economic infeasibility and well, business modelling is neither of ours forte. Nevertheless, it was a learning experience for Arjun and me and now we are members of the alumni club of ekipa.