Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

The carbon dioxide is mostly emitted from vehicles and industries in the form of smoke.

to stop carbon dioxide production i have an idea that is sodium hydroxide is a good absorb-er of carbon dioxide so in silencers and chimneys we can use sodium hydroxide and prevent carbon dioxide production.this my idea. will this workout

very urgent

ganesh rohit - You have a couple of questions on the Expert site, so I will try to answer both to assist you. In both cases, there are practical limitations to the effectiveness of your hypothesis, even though the underlying science may be correct. In this example, you ask about using NaOH as a material to absorb CO2 emissions from combustion in both vehicle and heating applications. The simple answer is yes, that CO2 will react with NaOH to form a carbonate. The problem is how much NaOH has to be used, the surface area required to be effective, and what do you do with all the sodium carbonate produced. Yes, the chemical action can be reversed, but is it practical from an economic or physical standpoint? I think you will find that it will not be a practical solution to a real problem, otherwise this approach would have been used to scrub CO2 in the past. Your project could certainly demonstrate that NaOH could be used to absorb CO2, but it is not an effective solution for reducing CO2 emissions on the planet, which I think was your approach.

Rick Marz