ECO-CBET: GOALI: Autothermal Direct Air Capture (aDAC) for a Circular Carbon Economy

要限制人类产生的温室气体排放造成的全球变暖灾难性影响，就需要采取消除新的排放和消除无法避免或过去排放的排放的解决方案。该项目的重点是直接空气捕获（DAC）材料和工艺，从空气中分离和浓缩二氧化碳（CO2）。 目标是将这种主要的温室气体转化为碳中性燃料/化学品或永久储存。DAC系统的重要早期演示表明，需要更少的能源密集型工艺和更便宜的材料。该项目探索了一种基于固体吸附的分离方法，使用低成本的聚合物混合吸附剂，可以利用水吸附过程中产生的水分和热量释放和浓缩捕获的CO2。此外，这些材料将整合到一个旨在利用低品位水源和可再生能源的系统中。工艺和材料研究将与土著社区共同设计，该技术可用于优化净效益，如纯净水和可再生燃料或化学品。该提案旨在设计新型CO2捕集吸附剂，通过自热真空水分摆动（aVMS）再生，并与下游CO2利用相结合。异质吸附位点将平衡水吸附热与CO2解吸热。PI假设水吸附热可以平衡以满足CO2解吸的水合和热负荷，从而减少对整个DAC操作的外部热输入。为了验证这一假设，研究小组将结合联合收割机的吸附剂材料合成，材料表征，新的单元操作和工艺模型的方法，并将这些方法用于创收系统的生命周期和技术经济分析。拟议活动的成果将是对多组分吸附的基本理解，以及如何调整自热分离所需的水蒸气和CO2吸附热的不同强度。将材料和工艺设计与社区参与相结合，探索不同碳去除和利用配置的风险和效益，将实现对社会负责和有影响力的创新。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Limiting the catastrophic effects of global warming from human-generated greenhouse gas emissions requires solutions that eliminate new emissions and remove those that cannot be avoided or were emitted in the past. This project focuses on Direct Air Capture (DAC) materials and processes that separate and concentrate carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air. The goal is to convert this major greenhouse gas into carbon neutral fuels/chemicals or permanently store it. Important early demonstration of DAC systems reveals the need for less energy intensive processes and less costly materials. This project explores a solid sorption-based separation using low-cost polymer-based hybrid sorbents that can release and concentrate captured CO2 using moisture and heat produced during water sorption. Further, these materials will integrate within a system designed to utilize low-grade water sources and renewable power. The process and material research will be co-designed with Indigenous communities in which the technology may be adopted to optimize net benefits such as purified water and renewable fuels or chemicals.This proposal aims to design novel CO2 capture sorbents which regenerate via an autothermal vacuum moisture swing (aVMS) integrated with downstream CO2 utilization. The heterogeneous sorption sites will balance heats of water adsorption with heats of CO2 desorption. The PIs hypothesize that heat of water sorption can be balanced to meet both the hydration and thermal loads of CO2 desorption, reducing external heat inputs to the overall DAC operation. To test this hypothesis, the team will combine approaches of sorbent material synthesis, material characterization, new unit operation and process models, and feed these into life cycle and technoeconomic analyses of revenue generating systems. The outcome of the proposed activities will be fundamental understanding of multi-component adsorption and how to tune the different strengths of water vapor and CO2 heat of sorption necessary for autothermal based separations. Integrating material and process design with community engagement that explores risks and benefits of different carbon removal and utilization configurations will enable socially responsible and impactful innovation.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.