Mist contactor
New generation gas-liquid contactors for direct air capture
Capture of CO2 from air (direct air capture – DAC) require capture agents, equipment and processes that can separate CO2 at very low concentration levels (~400 ppm). As result, direct air capture technologies face significant cost challenges due to their high energy requirements and large equipment sizes.
The large energy requirement stems from the regeneration of the capture agents and the movement of large amounts of air through the capture devices. The DAC technology investigated in this project uses liquid absorbents. While this technology is the leading option for most CO2-capture applications, it needs to be adapted to enable DAC applications.
The research in this project will focus on innovative systems that could significantly reduce costs by reducing energy requirements and/or investment costs.
It will consider the use of natural flows, for example through convection, to drive down energy requirements for air movement or use ‘free’ air flows to contact air with the absorption liquids.
Additionally, it will investigate the possibility of using or repurposing of existing equipment, such as natural draft cooling towers, or existing processes, such as air conditioning, for DAC purposes.
The ultimate goal is to release a step-change in costs for liquid-absorbent based DAC systems.
