Scaled production of materials for use in direct air capture (DAC) of CO2

在最近研究的基础上，该项目展示了能够通过新的相互作用选择性地吸附和存储二氧化碳的新型材料的合成，该项目专注于为碳捕获应用而设计的吸附二氧化碳的材料的制造。二氧化碳直接空气捕集(DAC)有可能成为迈向净零经济的主要减排技术(能源白皮书，英国BEIS)。然而，这一领域的进展取决于为该过程设计具有理想特性的新材料--例如，对二氧化碳的选择性高于空气的所有其他成分；高操作能力；高再生效率；可扩展和经济的制造。尽管对DAC系统进行了广泛的研究，但尚未找到最佳材料。这是因为以前的研究倾向于过分简化系统(例如，使用二元气体混合物，而空气的实际组成要复杂得多)，并且只关注过程的一部分。该项目的主要目标是开发一种材料筛选管道，该管道考虑到实际的操作条件(例如，多种组分在正确的空气成分下的混合物，包括水、广泛的压力和温度)，并涵盖所有阶段(材料合成、筛选、实验室测试和工艺设计)。还需要为DAC工艺开发材料的快速筛选，监督人员正在与NPL合作一个项目，设计和实施一个筛选潜在材料的过程；这最初将是小规模的，但需要在规模上对这些材料进行表征和测试。该项目是对Jorge博士和Fletcher教授的iCASE奖的补充，他们致力于通过分子模拟(活性碳、多孔硅、RF凝胶、MOF)筛选用于DAC的各种多孔材料，该分子模拟将使用参与该项目的学生创造的材料，通过在NPL和Strathclyde的实际条件下获得的实验数据进行验证。因此，这里提出的项目有三个方面：(I)向NPL提供一系列具有良好特性的多孔样品，以筛选材料并确定DAC应用的最佳性能，(Ii)根据(I)的反馈为DAC开发新材料，以及(Iii)规模化生产这些改进材料(例如颗粒、整体)。用于DAC中试工厂的测试，以及用于优化分离过程的过程建模。

Building upon recent research, demonstrating the synthesis of novel materials that are capable of selectively adsorbing and storing CO2 via novel interactions, this project focusses on the manufacture of materials designed to adsorb CO2 for carbon capture applications. Direct Air Capture (DAC) of CO2 has the potential to become a major emissions mitigation technique in the run-up to a net zero economy (Energy White Paper, UK BEIS). However, progress in this area hinges on designing new materials with ideal characteristics for the process - e.g. high selectivity towards CO2 over all other components of air; high operating capacity; high regeneration efficiency; scalable and economic manufacture. Despite extensive research into DAC systems, optimal materials have not yet been found. This is because prior research has tended to oversimplify the system (e.g. using binary gas mixtures whereas the real composition of air is much more complex) and focussed on only parts of the process. The main aim of this project is to develop a materials screening pipeline that considers realistic operating conditions (e.g. mixtures of multiple components at the correct air compositions, including water, wide range of pressures and temperatures) and covers all stages (material synthesis, screening, laboratory testing and process design). There is also a need to develop rapid screening of materials for DAC processes, and the supervisors are working with NPL on a project to design and implement a process to screen potential materials; this will initially be at the small scale, however, there will be a need to characterise and test these materials at scale. The project complements an iCASE award for Dr Jorge and Prof Fletcher working on the screening of various classes of porous materials for DAC through molecular simulation (activated carbons, porous silicas, RF gels, MOFs), which will be validated against experimental data obtained under realistic conditions at both NPL and Strathclyde using materials created by the students working on this project. Hence the project proposed here is three-fold: (i) to supply NPL with a range of well-characterised porous samples to screen materials and determine optimised properties for DAC applications, (ii) to develop new materials for DAC on the basis of feedback from (i), and (iii) scaled production of these improved materials at scale (e.g. pellets, monoliths etc.) for testing in a DAC pilot plant, together with process modelling to optimize the separation process.