Carbon dioxide capture facility

Abstract

A direct air capture (DAC) facility for capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from atmospheric air is disposed on a plot of land having a prevailing wind direction and includes at least one contactor wall formed from a plurality of gas-sorbent contactors positioned side by side and a regeneration facility in communication with the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors The at least one contactor wall is disposed on the plot of land and extends along a wall axis parallel to the prevailing wind direction. Each gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors includes a housing including a plurality of structural members; at least one air inlet and at least one air outlet;  a gas-sorbent interface; and at least one fan. The regeneration facility is configured to process the CO2-rich sorbent and to regenerate the CO2-rich sorbent to form a regenerated sorbent for the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors.

Description

CARBON DIOXIDE CAPTURE FACILITYTECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] This disclosure relates to a carbon dioxide capture facility a method for producing carbon dioxide therefrom.BACKGROUND

[0002] Capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere is one approach to mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and slowing climate change. However, many technologies designed for CO2 capture from point sources, such as flue gas of industrial facilities, are generally ineffective in capturing CO2 from the atmosphere due to the significantly lower CO2 concentrations and large volumes of air required to process CO2 from the atmosphere. In recent years, progress has been made in finding technologies better suited to capture CO2 directly from the atmosphere. Some of these direct air capture (DAC) facilities use a solid sorbent where an active agent is attached to a substrate. These DAC facilities typically employ a cyclic adsorption-desorption process where, after the solid sorbent is saturated with CO2, it releases the CO2 using a humidity or thermal swing and is regenerated.

[0003] Other DAC facilities use a liquid sorbent (sometimes referred to as a solvent) to capture CO2 from the atmosphere. An example of such a gas-liquid contact system would be one where a fan is used to draw air across a high surface area packing that is wetted with a solution comprising the liquid sorbent. CO2 in the air reacts with the liquid sorbent. The rich solution is further processed downstream to regenerate a lean solution and to release a concentrated CO2 stream.SUMMARY

[0004] An example implementation includes a direct air capture (DAC) facility for capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from atmospheric air. The DAC facility is disposed on a plot of land having a prevailing wind direction. The DAC facility includes at least one contactor wall formed from a plurality of gas-sorbent contactors positioned side by side, the at least one contactor wall disposed on the plot of land and extending along a wall axis parallel to the prevailing wind direction. Each gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors includes a housing including a plurality of structural members; at least one air inlet and at least one air outlet, the at least one air inlet defining a plane parallel to the prevailing wind direction; a gas-sorbent interface configured to have a sorbent for capturing CO2 from the atmosphericair to form a CCh-rich sorbent; and at least one fan operable to circulate the atmospheric air through the gas-sorbent interface. The facility includes a regeneration facility in communication with the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors. The regeneration facility is configured to process the C Ch-rich sorbent and to regenerate the CCh-rich sorbent to form a regenerated sorbent for the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors.

[0005] In an aspect combinable with the example implementation, the at least one air inlet includes two air inlets, the planes of the two air inlets being parallel to each other; and the at least one air outlet is disposed above the two air inlets and defines an outlet plane perpendicular to the planes of the two air inlets.

[0006] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the regeneration facility is disposed downstream of the at least one contactor wall relative to the prevailing wind direction.

[0007] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the regeneration facility is disposed upstream of the at least one contactor wall relative to the prevailing wind direction.

[0008] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the gas-sorbent interface includes one or more packing sections.

[0009] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the one or more packing sections include at least one structured packing including a plurality of packing sheets.

[0010] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the sorbent includes a CO2 capture solution; and each gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gassorbent contactors includes a liquid distribution system configured to distribute the CO2 capture solution onto the one or more packing sections to absorb the CO2 from the atmospheric air to form the CCh-rich sorbent.

[0011] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the one or more packing sections include an upper arrangement of packing and a lower arrangement of packing, and the upper arrangement of packing and the lower arrangement of packing are separated by a vertically-extending gap; and the liquid distribution system includes at least one redistribution basin positioned in the vertically-extending gap, the at least one redistribution basin configured to receive the CO2 capture solution from the upper arrangement of packing, and flow the CO2 capture solution to the lower arrangement of packing.

[0012] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the regeneration facility is in fluid communication with the liquid distribution system to receivethe CO2 capture solution; and the regeneration facility is configured to regenerate the CO2 capture solution and form a regenerated CO2 capture solution for the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors.

[0013] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the regeneration facility includes an electrochemical system configured to regenerate the CO2 capture solution and produce a CO2 product stream.

[0014] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the electrochemical system includes a carbonate separation subsystem configured to receive the CO2 capture solution and separate at least a portion of carbonate products from the CO2 capture solution; and an electrochemical cell fluidly coupled to the carbonate separation subsystem.

[0015] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the electrochemical cell configured to receive a feed solution and a water stream; and yield at least two product streams including a first product stream that includes a regenerated CO2 capture solution.

[0016] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the electrochemical cell is configured to yield the regenerated CO2 capture solution including hydroxide for the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors.

[0017] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the CO2 capture solution includes at least one of: K2CO3, Na2COs, or a combination thereof.

[0018] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the gas-sorbent interface is configured to receive the CO2 capture solution for capturing carbon dioxide from the atmospheric air to form the CCh-rich sorbent, the CO2 capture solution including potassium hydroxide (KOH), sodium hydroxide (NaOH), additives, or a combination thereof.

[0019] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the regeneration system includes at least one reactor configured to react, via a causticization reaction, slaked lime (Ca(OH)2) and the CO2 capture solution to produce hydroxide and calcium carbonate (CaCCh) solids.

[0020] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the regeneration system includes a calciner configured to calcine the calcium carbonate solids and produce an exhaust gas stream including a CO2 product stream.

[0021] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the at least one contactor wall includes a plurality of contactor walls, each contactor wall of the plurality of contactor walls spaced apart from an adjacent contactor wall of the plurality ofcontactor walls by a reingestion mitigation distance, the reingestion mitigation distance being transverse to the prevailing wind direction.

[0022] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the reingestion mitigation distance is a function of dispersion characteristics of a CCh-lean wall plume emitted from a first contactor wall during operation thereof toward the adjacent contactor wall, a lateral plume dispersion distance of the CCh-lean wall plume defined perpendicular to the prevailing wind direction from a gas-sorbent contactor of the first contactor wall to a furthest lateral extent of the CCh-lean wall plume from said gas-sorbent contactor, the lateral plume dispersion distance being less than the reingestion mitigation distance.

[0023] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the reingestion mitigation distance is a function of variations in the prevailing wind direction.

[0024] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the wall axis is parallel to a wind direction offset 180° from the prevailing wind direction.

[0025] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the at least one contactor wall includes a plurality of dividing walls, each dividing wall of the plurality of dividing walls being upright, the plurality of dividing walls fluidly separating interiors of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors of the at least one contactor wall.

[0026] In another example implementation, a method for installing a direct air capture (DAC) facility includes positioning a plurality of gas-sorbent contactors side by side on a plot of land to form at least one contactor wall. The at least one contactor wall extends along a wall axis being parallel to a prevailing wind direction of the plot of land. Each gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors has at least one air inlet defining an upright plane being parallel to the prevailing wind direction.

[0027] An aspect combinable with the example implementation includes siting a regeneration facility on the plot of land in communication with the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors.

[0028] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, siting the regeneration facility on the plot of land includes disposing the regeneration facility downstream of the at least one contactor wall relative to the prevailing wind direction.

[0029] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, siting the regeneration facility on the plot of land includes disposing the regeneration facility upstream of the at least one contactor wall relative to the prevailing wind direction.

[0030] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, positioning the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors includes positioning the plurality of gassorbent contactors to form the at least one contactor wall having a wall length to mitigate ingestion of a CCh-lean plume emitted from the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors during operation thereof, the wall length parallel to the prevailing wind direction and defined between a leading gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors and a trailing gassorbent contactor of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors, and the wall length is a function of dispersion characteristics of the CCh-lean plume emitted from the leading gas-sorbent contactor during operation thereof.

[0031] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, positioning the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors to form the at least one contactor wall having the wall length includes positioning the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors having the wall length being less than a plume dispersion distance, the plume dispersion distance defined parallel to the prevailing wind direction between the leading gas-sorbent contactor and a location downstream of the leading gas-sorbent contactor relative to the prevailing wind direction, the location representative of where some or all of the CCh-lean plume being ingested by the one or more of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors.

[0032] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, positioning the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors side to form the at least one contactor wall includes positioning the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors to form the at least one contactor wall having a wall length defined between a leading gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors and a location downstream relative to the prevailing wind direction, the location downstream having an acceptable level of CCh concentration loss resulting from a CCh-lean plume emitted from the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors during operation thereof.

[0033] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, positioning the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors includes positioning the plurality of gassorbent contactors to form a plurality of contactor walls including at least a first contactor wall and a second contactor wall adjacent to the first contactor wall, the second contactor wall spaced apart from the first contactor wall on the plot of land by a reingestion mitigation distance defined along a direction transverse to the prevailing wind direction, the reingestion mitigation distance is a function of dispersion characteristics of a CCh-lean wall plume emitted from the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors forming the first contactor wall during operation thereof, and spacing the second contactor wall apart from the first contactor wall by the reingestionmitigation distance mitigates ingestion of the CCh-lean wall plume by the plurality of gassorbent contactors forming the second contactor wall.

[0034] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the reingestion mitigation distance is a function of dispersion characteristics of the CCh-lean wall plume emitted from the first contactor wall during operation thereof toward the second contactor wall, a lateral plume dispersion distance of the CCh-lean wall plume defined perpendicular to the prevailing wind direction from a gas-sorbent contactor of the first contactor wall to a furthest lateral extent of the CCh-lean wall plume from said gas-sorbent contactor, the lateral plume dispersion distance being less than the reingestion mitigation distance.

[0035] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the reingestion mitigation distance is a function of variations in the prevailing wind direction.

[0036] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, positioning the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors to form the at least one contactor wall includes aligning the wall axis parallel to the prevailing wind direction and to a wind direction offset 180° from the prevailing wind direction.

[0037] Another example implementation includes a direct air capture (DAC) facility for capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from atmospheric air. The DAC facility is disposed on a plot of land having a prevailing wind direction. The DAC facility includes at least one contactor wall formed from a plurality of gas-sorbent contactors positioned side by side, the at least one contactor wall disposed on the plot of land and extending along a wall axis parallel to the prevailing wind direction. Each gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors includes a housing including a plurality of structural members; at least one air inlet and at least one air outlet, the at least one air inlet defining a plane parallel to the prevailing wind direction; a gas-sorbent interface configured to have a sorbent for capturing CO2 from the atmospheric air, to form a CCh-rich sorbent and a CCh-lean gas; and at least one fan operable to circulate the atmospheric air through the gas-sorbent interface, and to flow a plume of the CCh-lean gas. The at least one contactor wall has a wall length defined parallel to the prevailing wind direction between a leading gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors and a trailing gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors, the wall length being a function of dispersion characteristics of the plume emitted from the leading gas-sorbent contactor during operation thereof, the at least one contactor wall having the wall length configured to mitigate ingestion of the plume by the trailing gas-sorbent contactor. The facility includes a regeneration facility in communication with the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors to processthe CCh-rich sorbent, the regeneration facility configured to regenerate the CCh-rich sorbent to form a regenerated sorbent for the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors.

[0038] In an aspect combinable with the example implementation, the wall length is a function of at least a speed of the prevailing wind.

[0039] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the at least one air inlet includes two air inlets, the planes of the two air inlets being parallel to each other; and the at least one air outlet is disposed above the two air inlets and defines an outlet plane perpendicular to the planes of the two air inlets.

[0040] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the regeneration facility is disposed downstream of the at least one contactor wall relative to the prevailing wind direction.

[0041] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the regeneration facility is disposed upstream of the at least one contactor wall relative to the prevailing wind direction.

[0042] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the gas-sorbent interface includes one or more packing sections.

[0043] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the one or more packing sections include at least one structured packing including a plurality of packing sheets.

[0044] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the sorbent includes a CO2 capture solution; and each gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gassorbent contactors includes a liquid distribution system configured to distribute the CO2 capture solution onto the one or more packing sections to absorb the CO2 from the atmospheric air to form the CCh-rich sorbent.

[0045] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the one or more packing sections include an upper arrangement of packing and a lower arrangement of packing, and the upper arrangement of packing and the lower arrangement of packing are separated by a vertically-extending gap; and the liquid distribution system includes at least one redistribution basin positioned in the vertically-extending gap, the at least one redistribution basin configured to receive the CO2 capture solution from the upper arrangement of packing, and flow the CO2 capture solution to the lower arrangement of packing.

[0046] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the regeneration facility is in fluid communication with the liquid distribution system to receive the CO2 capture solution; and the regeneration facility is configured to regenerate the CO2capture solution and form a regenerated CO2 capture solution for the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors.

[0047] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the regeneration facility includes an electrochemical system configured to regenerate the CO2 capture solution and produce a CO2 product stream.

[0048] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the electrochemical system includes a carbonate separation subsystem configured to receive the CO2 capture solution and separate at least a portion of carbonate products from the CO2 capture solution; and an electrochemical cell fluidly coupled to the carbonate separation subsystem. The electrochemical cell is configured to receive a feed solution and a water stream; and yield at least two product streams including a first product stream that includes a regenerated CO2 capture solution.

[0049] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the electrochemical cell is configured to yield the regenerated CO2 capture solution including hydroxide for the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors.

[0050] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the CO2 capture solution includes at least one of: K2CO3, Na2COs, or a combination thereof.

[0051] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the gas-sorbent interface is configured to receive the CO2 capture solution for capturing carbon dioxide from the atmospheric air to form the CCh-rich sorbent, the CO2 capture solution including potassium hydroxide (KOH), sodium hydroxide (NaOH), additives, or a combination thereof.

[0052] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the regeneration system includes at least one reactor configured to react, via a causticization reaction, slaked lime (Ca(OH)2) and the CO2 capture solution to produce hydroxide and calcium carbonate (CaCCh) solids.

[0053] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the regeneration system includes a calciner configured to calcine the calcium carbonate solids and produce an exhaust gas stream including a CO2 product stream.

[0054] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the at least one contactor wall includes a plurality of contactor walls, each contactor wall of the plurality of contactor walls spaced apart from an adjacent contactor wall of the plurality of contactor walls by a reingestion mitigation distance, the reingestion mitigation distance being transverse to the prevailing wind direction.

[0055] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the reingestion mitigation distance is a function of dispersion characteristics of a CCh-lean wall plume emitted from a first contactor wall during operation thereof toward the adjacent contactor wall, a lateral plume dispersion distance of the CCh-lean wall plume defined perpendicular to the prevailing wind direction from a gas-sorbent contactor of the first contactor wall to a furthest lateral extent of the CCh-lean wall plume from said gas-sorbent contactor, the lateral plume dispersion distance being less than the reingestion mitigation distance.

[0056] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the reingestion mitigation distance is a function of variations in the prevailing wind direction.

[0057] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the wall axis is parallel to a wind direction offset 180° from the prevailing wind direction.

[0058] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the at least one contactor wall includes a plurality of dividing walls, each dividing wall of the plurality of dividing walls being upright, the plurality of dividing walls fluidly separating interiors of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors of the at least one contactor wall.

[0059] In another example implementation, a method for installing a direct air capture (DAC) facility on a plot of land includes positioning a plurality of gas-sorbent contactors side by side on the plot of land to form at least one contactor wall. The at least one contactor wall extends in a direction parallel to a prevailing wind direction of the plot of land, the at least one contactor wall having a wall length parallel to the prevailing wind direction and defined between a leading gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors and a trailing gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors, the wall length being a function of dispersion characteristics of a CCh-lean plume emitted from the leading gas-sorbent contactor during operation thereof. The at least one contactor wall has the wall length configured to mitigate ingestion of the CCh-lean plume by the trailing gas-sorbent contactor.

[0060] In an aspect combinable with the example implementation, positioning the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors to form the at least one contactor wall includes positioning the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors having the wall length being less than a plume dispersion distance, the plume dispersion distance defined parallel to the prevailing wind direction between the leading gas-sorbent contactor and a location downstream of the leading gassorbent contactor relative to the prevailing wind direction, the location representative of where some or all of the CCh-lean plume being ingested by the one or more of the plurality of gassorbent contactors.

[0061] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, positioning the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors side to form the at least one contactor wall includes positioning the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors to form the at least one contactor wall having the wall length defined between the leading gas-sorbent contactor and a location downstream relative to the prevailing wind direction, the location downstream having an acceptable level of CO2 concentration loss resulting from the CCh-lean plume.

[0062] Another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects includes siting a regeneration facility on the plot of land in communication with the plurality of gas- sorb ent contactors.

[0063] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, siting the regeneration facility on the plot of land includes disposing the regeneration facility downstream of the at least one contactor wall relative to the prevailing wind direction.

[0064] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, siting the regeneration facility on the plot of land includes disposing the regeneration facility upstream of the at least one contactor wall relative to the prevailing wind direction.

[0065] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, positioning the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors includes positioning the plurality of gassorbent contactors to form the at least one contactor wall and a second contactor wall adjacent to the at least one contactor wall, the second contactor wall spaced apart from the at least one contactor wall on the plot of land by a reingestion mitigation distance defined along a direction transverse to the prevailing wind direction, the reingestion mitigation distance is a function of a dispersion characteristics of a CCh-lean wall plume emitted from the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors forming the at least one contactor wall during operation thereof, and spacing the second contactor wall apart from the at least one contactor wall by the reingestion mitigation distance mitigates ingestion of the CCh-lean wall plume by the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors forming the second contactor wall.

[0066] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the reingestion mitigation distance is a function of dispersion characteristics of the CCh-lean wall plume emitted from the at least one contactor wall during operation thereof toward the second contactor wall, a lateral plume dispersion distance of the CCh-lean wall plume defined perpendicular to the prevailing wind direction from a gas-sorbent contactor of the at least one contactor wall to a furthest lateral extent of the CCh-lean wall plume from said gas-sorbent contactor, the lateral plume dispersion distance being less than the reingestion mitigation distance.

[0067] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the reingestion mitigation distance is a function of variations in the prevailing wind direction.

[0068] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the reingestion mitigation distance is a function of at least one of an anticipated maximum variation in angle of attack of the prevailing wind direction and a speed of the prevailing wind.

[0069] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, positioning the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors to form the at least one contactor wall includes aligning the at least one contactor wall parallel to a wind direction offset 180° from the prevailing wind direction.

[0070] In another example implementation, a direct air capture (DAC) facility for capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from atmospheric air includes a plurality of contactor walls positioned on a plot of land having a prevailing wind direction, each contactor wall of the plurality of contactor walls extending in a direction parallel to the prevailing wind direction, each contactor wall of the plurality of contactor walls formed of a plurality of gas-sorbent contactors positioned side by side. Each gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors includes a housing including a plurality of structural members; at least one air inlet and at least one air outlet, the at least one air inlet defining a plane parallel to the prevailing wind direction; a gas-sorbent interface having a sorbent for capturing CO2 from the atmospheric air; and at least one fan rotating about a fan axis and circulating the atmospheric air through the at least one air inlet, and through the gas-sorbent interface to contact the carbon dioxide from atmospheric air with the sorbent and form a CCh-rich sorbent and a CCh-lean plume. Each contactor wall is spaced apart from at least one adjacent contactor wall on the plot of land by a reingestion mitigation distance, the reingestion mitigation distance being a function of dispersion characteristics of a CCh-lean wall plume formed from the CCh-lean plumes emitted from the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors forming the contactor wall during operation thereon. Spacing each contactor wall apart from the at least one adjacent contactor wall by the reingestion mitigation distance mitigates ingestion of the CCh-lean wall plume by the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors forming the at least one adjacent contactor wall. The facility includes a regeneration facility in communication with the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors. The regeneration facility is configured to process the CCh-rich sorbent, and to regenerate the CCh-rich sorbent to form a regenerated sorbent for the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors.

[0071] In an aspect combinable with the example implementation, the reingestion mitigation distance is a function of at least one of an anticipated maximum variation in angle of attack of the prevailing wind direction and a speed of the prevailing wind.

[0072] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the at least one air inlet includes two air inlets, the planes of the two air inlets being parallel to each other; and the at least one air outlet is disposed above the two air inlets and defines an outlet plane perpendicular to the planes of the two air inlets.

[0073] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the regeneration facility is disposed downstream of the at least one contactor wall relative to the prevailing wind direction.

[0074] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the regeneration facility is disposed upstream of the at least one contactor wall relative to the prevailing wind direction.

[0075] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the gas-sorbent interface includes one or more packing sections.

[0076] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the one or more packing sections include at least one structured packing including a plurality of packing sheets.

[0077] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the sorbent includes a CO2 capture solution; and each gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gassorbent contactors includes a liquid distribution system configured to distribute the CO2 capture solution onto the one or more packing sections to absorb the CO2 from the atmospheric air to form the CCh-rich sorbent.

[0078] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the one or more packing sections include an upper arrangement of packing and a lower arrangement of packing, and the upper arrangement of packing and the lower arrangement of packing are separated by a vertically-extending gap; and the liquid distribution system includes at least one redistribution basin positioned in the vertically-extending gap, the at least one redistribution basin configured to receive the CO2 capture solution from the upper arrangement of packing, and flow the CO2 capture solution to the lower arrangement of packing.

[0079] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the regeneration facility is in fluid communication with the liquid distribution system to receive the CO2 capture solution; and the regeneration facility is configured to regenerate the CO2capture solution and form a regenerated CO2 capture solution for the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors.

[0080] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the regeneration facility includes an electrochemical system configured to regenerate the CO2 capture solution and produce a CO2 product stream.

[0081] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the electrochemical system includes a carbonate separation subsystem configured to receive the CO2 capture solution and separate at least a portion of carbonate products from the CO2 capture solution; and an electrochemical cell fluidly coupled to the carbonate separation subsystem.

[0082] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the electrochemical cell is configured to receive a feed solution and a water stream; and yield at least two product streams including a first product stream that includes a regenerated CO2 capture solution.

[0083] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the electrochemical cell is configured to yield the regenerated CO2 capture solution including hydroxide for the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors.

[0084] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the CO2 capture solution includes at least one of: K2CO3, Na2COs, or a combination thereof.

[0085] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the gas-sorbent interface is configured to receive the CO2 capture solution for capturing carbon dioxide from the atmospheric air to form the CCh-rich sorbent, the CO2 capture solution including potassium hydroxide (KOH), sodium hydroxide (NaOH), additives, or a combination thereof.

[0086] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the regeneration system includes at least one reactor configured to react, via a causticization reaction, slaked lime (Ca(OH)2) and the CO2 capture solution to produce hydroxide and calcium carbonate (CaCCh) solids.

[0087] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the regeneration system includes a calciner configured to calcine the calcium carbonate solids and produce an exhaust gas stream including a CO2 product stream.

[0088] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the at least one contactor wall includes a plurality of contactor walls, each contactor wall of the plurality of contactor walls spaced apart from an adjacent contactor wall of the plurality ofcontactor walls by a reingestion mitigation distance, the reingestion mitigation distance being transverse to the prevailing wind direction.

[0089] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the reingestion mitigation distance is a function of dispersion characteristics of a CCh-lean wall plume emitted from a first contactor wall during operation thereof toward the adjacent contactor wall, a lateral plume dispersion distance of the CCh-lean wall plume defined perpendicular to the prevailing wind direction from a gas-sorbent contactor of the first contactor wall to a furthest lateral extent of the CCh-lean wall plume from said gas-sorbent contactor, the lateral plume dispersion distance being less than the reingestion mitigation distance.

[0090] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the reingestion mitigation distance is a function of variations in the prevailing wind direction.

[0091] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the wall axis is parallel to a wind direction offset 180° from the prevailing wind direction.

[0092] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the at least one contactor wall includes a plurality of dividing walls, each dividing wall of the plurality of dividing walls being upright, the plurality of dividing walls fluidly separating interiors of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors of the at least one contactor wall.

[0093] In another example implementation, a method for installing a direct air capture (DAC) facility on a plot of land includes spacing a plurality of contactor walls apart from each other on a plot of land having a prevailing wind direction. Each contactor wall of the plurality of contactor walls extends in a direction parallel to the prevailing wind direction, and each contactor wall of the plurality of contactor walls includes a plurality of gas-sorbent contactors positioned side by side. Each contactor wall is spaced apart from at least one adjacent contactor wall on the plot of land by a reingestion mitigation distance, the reingestion mitigation distance being a function of dispersion characteristics of a CCh-lean wall plume emitted from the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors forming the contactor wall during operation of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors, and spacing each contactor wall apart from the at least one adjacent contactor wall by the reingestion mitigation distance mitigates ingestion of the CCh-lean wall plume by the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors forming the at least one adjacent contactor wall.

[0094] An aspect combinable with the example implementation includes positioning each contactor wall to extend in a direction parallel to the prevailing wind direction and to have a wall length defined parallel to the prevailing wind direction between a leading gas-sorbentcontactor of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors and a trailing gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors, the wall length being a function of dispersion characteristics of a CCh-lean plume emitted from the leading gas-sorbent contactor during operation thereof, the at least one contactor wall having the wall length configured to mitigate ingestion of the CCh-lean plume by the trailing gas-sorbent contactor.

[0095] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, positioning each contactor wall includes positioning each contactor wall to have a wall length defined parallel to the prevailing wind direction, the wall length being a function of at least a speed of the prevailing wind.

[0096] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, positioning the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors to form the at least one contactor wall includes positioning the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors having the wall length being less than a plume dispersion distance, the plume dispersion distance defined parallel to the prevailing wind direction between the leading gas-sorbent contactor and a location downstream of the leading gas-sorbent contactor relative to the prevailing wind direction, the location representative of where some or all of the CCh-lean plume being ingested by the one or more of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors.

[0097] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, positioning the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors side to form the at least one contactor wall includes positioning the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors to form the at least one contactor wall having the wall length defined between the leading gas-sorbent contactor and a location downstream relative to the prevailing wind direction, the location downstream having an acceptable level of CO2 concentration loss resulting from the CCh-lean plume.

[0098] Another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects includes siting a regeneration facility on the plot of land in communication with the plurality of gas- sorb ent contactors.

[0099] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, siting the regeneration facility on the plot of land includes disposing the regeneration facility downstream of the at least one contactor wall relative to the prevailing wind direction.

[0100] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, siting the regeneration facility on the plot of land includes disposing the regeneration facility upstream of the at least one contactor wall relative to the prevailing wind direction.

[0101] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, positioning the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors includes positioning the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors to form the at least one contactor wall and a second contactor wall adjacent to the at least one contactor wall, the second contactor wall spaced apart from the at least one contactor wall on the plot of land by a reingestion mitigation distance defined along a direction transverse to the prevailing wind direction, the reingestion mitigation distance is a function of a dispersion characteristics of a CCh-lean wall plume emitted from the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors forming the at least one contactor wall during operation thereof, and spacing the second contactor wall apart from the at least one contactor wall by the reingestion mitigation distance mitigates ingestion of the CCh-lean wall plume by the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors forming the second contactor wall.

[0102] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the reingestion mitigation distance is a function of dispersion characteristics of the CCh-lean wall plume emitted from the at least one contactor wall during operation thereof toward the second contactor wall, a lateral plume dispersion distance of the CCh-lean wall plume defined perpendicular to the prevailing wind direction from a gas-sorbent contactor of the at least one contactor wall to a furthest lateral extent of the CCh-lean wall plume from said gas-sorbent contactor, the lateral plume dispersion distance being less than the reingestion mitigation distance.

[0103] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the reingestion mitigation distance is a function of variations in the prevailing wind direction.

[0104] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the reingestion mitigation distance is a function of at least one of an anticipated maximum variation in angle of attack of the prevailing wind direction and a speed of the prevailing wind.

[0105] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, positioning the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors to form the at least one contactor wall includes aligning the at least one contactor wall parallel to a wind direction offset 180° from the prevailing wind direction.

[0106] In another example implementation, a method for producing carbon dioxide (CO2) includes flowing atmospheric air through a plurality of gas-sorbent contactors to capture CO2 from the atmospheric air, generate a CCh-rich sorbent, and generate a CCh-lean plume emitted from the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors. The plurality of gas-sorbent contactors are side by side to form at least one contactor wall. The at least one contactor wall extends in a direction parallel to a prevailing wind direction of a plot of land, the at least one contactor wall having a wall length defined parallel to the prevailing wind direction and defined between a leading gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors and a downstreamlocation relative to the prevailing wind direction. The wall length is a function of dispersion characteristics of the CCh-lean plume emitted from the leading gas-sorbent contactor during operation thereof. The at least one contactor wall has the wall length configured to mitigate ingestion of the CCh-lean plume by a trailing gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gassorbent contactors. The method includes regenerating the CCh-rich sorbent to produce a CCh- lean sorbent and to produce a product CCh stream.

[0107] In an aspect combinable with the example implementation, the downstream location has an acceptable level of CO2 concentration loss resulting from the CCh-lean plume emitted from the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors.

[0108] In another aspect combinable with one, some, or all of the previous aspects, the downstream location is the trailing gas-sorbent contactor, the wall length being less than a plume dispersion distance measured from the leading gas-sorbent contactor to a location at which the CCh-lean plume approaches ground-level of the plot of land.

[0109] In another example implementation, a method for producing carbon dioxide (CO2) includes flowing atmospheric air through a plurality of gas-sorbent contactors to capture CO2 from the atmospheric air, generate a CCh-rich sorbent, and generate a CCh-lean plume emitted from the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors. The plurality of gas-sorbent contactors form a plurality of contactor walls, each contactor wall of the plurality of contactor walls being spaced apart from at least one adjacent contactor wall on a plot of land by a reingestion mitigation distance. The reingestion mitigation distance is a function of dispersion characteristics of the CCh-lean plume emitted from the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors forming the contactor wall. Spacing each contactor wall apart from the at least one adjacent contactor wall by the reingestion mitigation distance mitigates ingestion of the CCh-lean plume by the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors forming the at least one adjacent contactor wall.

[0110] Another example implementation includes a direct air capture (DAC) facility for capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from atmospheric air, The DAC facility is disposed on a plot of land and includes at least one contactor wall formed from a plurality of gas-sorbent contactors positioned side by side, the at least one contactor wall being disposed on the plot of land and extending along a wall axis. Each gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors includes a housing including a plurality of structural members; at least one air inlet and at least one air outlet, the at least one air inlet defining a plane parallel to the wall axis; a gas-sorbent interface configured to have a sorbent for capturing CCh from the atmospheric air, to form a CCh-rich sorbent; and at least one fan operable to circulate the atmospheric air through the gas-sorbent interface. The facility includes a regeneration facility incommunication with the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors, the regeneration facility being configured to process the C Ch-rich sorbent and to regenerate the CCh-rich sorbent to form a regenerated sorbent for the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors.

[0111] The details of one or more implementations of the subject matter described in this disclosure are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter will become apparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0112] FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an example gas-sorbent contactor of the present disclosure.

[0113] FIG. 2A is a schematic illustration of another example gas-sorbent contactor of the present disclosure.

[0114] FIG. 2B is a schematic illustration of another example gas-sorbent contactor of the present disclosure.

[0115] FIG. 2C is a schematic illustration of another example gas-sorbent contactor of the present disclosure.

[0116] FIG. 3 is a side perspective view of a contactor wall of a direct air capture (DAC) facility of the present disclosure.

[0117] FIG. 4 shows a plot of frequency (measured in days) of wind direction.

[0118] FIG. 5 is a wind rose diagram corresponding to the plot of FIG. 4.

[0119] FIG. 6 is a top-down view of a DAC facility of the present disclosure.

[0120] FIG. 6A is a top-down view of another DAC facility of the present disclosure.

[0121] FIG. 6B is a top-down view of another DAC facility of the present disclosure.

[0122] FIG. 6C is a graph plotting CO2 concentration as a function of distance.

[0123] FIGS. 7A-7E are top-down views of a DAC facility of the present disclosure and of plumes generated during operation thereof.

[0124] FIG. 7F is a table depicting plume reingestion based on variations in wind direction and lateral spacing between contactor walls for the DAC facilities of the present disclosure.

[0125] FIG. 8 shows example plume distributions for CCh-lean gas discharged from different configurations of a gas-sorbent contactor of the DAC facilities of the present disclosure.

[0126] FIG. 9 is a schematic illustration of a DAC facility of the present disclosure.

[0127] FIG. 10 is a schematic illustration of another DAC facility of the present disclosure.

[0128] FIG. 11 is a schematic illustration of another DAC facility of the present disclosure.

[0129] FIG. 12 is a schematic illustration of another DAC facility of the present disclosure.

[0130] FIG. 13 is a schematic flow diagram of a method for installing the DAC facility of the present disclosure.

[0131] FIG. 14 is a schematic flow diagram of a method for installing the DAC facilities of the present disclosure.

[0132] FIG. 15 is a schematic flow diagram of a method for installing the DAC facilities of the present disclosure.

[0133] FIG. 16 is a schematic flow diagram of a method for producing carbon dioxide (CO2) from atmospheric air using the DAC facilities of the present disclosure.

[0134] FIG. 17 is a schematic flow diagram of a method for producing carbon dioxide (CO2) from atmospheric air using the DAC facilities of the present disclosure.

[0135] FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram of a control system (or controller) for units and systems the present disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0136] FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an example gas-sorbent contactor 100 in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 1, the present disclosure describes systems and methods for capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) with multiple gas-sorbent contactors 100, from the atmosphere (i.e., ambient or atmospheric air) or from another fluid source that contains dilute concentrations of CO2. Concentrations of CO2in the atmosphere are dilute, in that they are presently in the range of 400-420 parts per million (“ppm”) or approximately 0.04-0.042% v / v, and less than 1% v / v. These atmospheric concentrations of CO2are at least one order of magnitude lower than the concentration of CO2in point-source emissions, such as flue gases, where point-source emissions can have concentrations of CO2ranging from 5-15% v / v depending on the source of emissions.

[0137] In the configuration illustrated in FIG. 1, the gas-sorbent contactor 100 is operated to capture the dilute CO2present in ambient air by ingesting the ambient air as a flow of CO2-laden air 101, and by treating the CO2-laden air 101 so as to transfer CO2present therein to a CO2capture solution 114 (e.g., a CO2sorbent) via absorption. Some or all of the CO2inthe CO2-laden air 101 is removed, and the treated CO2-laden air 101 is then discharged by the gas-sorbent contactor 100 as a flow of CO2-lean gas 105 (or, CO2-low air). In operating to treat atmospheric air in this manner, the gas-sorbent contactor 100 can sometimes be referred to herein as an “air contactor” or “AC” because it facilitates capture of CO2from the atmospheric air into the CO2capture solution 114. In contrast to water cooling towers which function primarily to transfer heat between water and atmospheric air, the gas-sorbent contactor 100 functions primarily to achieve mass transfer of CO2from the atmospheric air to the CO2capture solution 114. The gas-sorbent contactor 100 of FIG. 1 uses a liquid sorbent to absorb CO2in the CO2-laden air 101, and can thus be referred to as a “gas-liquid contactor 100”. In alternate implementations, and as described below, the gas-sorbent contactor 100 uses a solid sorbent to adsorb CO2in the CO2-laden air 101.

[0138] In some implementations, and referring to FIG. 1, the CO2capture solution 114 is a caustic solution. In some implementations, the CO2capture solution 114 has a pH of 10 or higher. In some implementations, the CO2capture solution 114 has a pH of approximately 14. Non-limiting examples of the CO2capture solution 114 include aqueous alkaline solutions (e.g., KOH, NaOH, or a combination thereof), aqueous amines, aqueous amino acid salt solutions, non-aqueous solutions of amines, non-aqueous organic liquids / solutions (e.g., dimethyl sulfoxide or DMSO), aqueous carbonate and / or bicarbonate solutions, phenoxides / phenoxide salts, ionic liquids, non-aqueous solvents, diamines with an aminocyclohexyl group (e.g., IPDA), or a combination thereof. In some cases, the CO2capture solution 114 can include promoters and / or additives that increase the rate of CO2uptake. Nonlimiting examples of promoters include carbonic anhydrase, amines (primary, secondary, tertiary), and boric acid. Non-limiting examples of additives include chlorides, sulfates, acetates, phosphates, surfactants, oxides and metal oxides. For example, a surfactant can be added to the CO2capture solution 114 to lower the surface tension of the CO2capture solution 114 to improve the ability of the CO2capture solution 114 to wet the material of the packing. Non-limiting examples of rate-enhancing additives include carbonic anhydrase, piperazine, monoethanolamine (MEA), diethanolamine (DEA), zinc triazacycles, zinc tetraazacycles, copper glycinates, hydroxopentaaminecobalt perchlorate, formaldehyde hydrate, saccharose, fructose, glucose, phenols, phenolates, glycerin, arsenite, hypochlorite, hypobromite, or other oxyanionic species.

[0139] In some implementations, at a given reference temperature, the density of the CO2capture solution 114 is greater than the density of water at the same reference temperature. At comparable reference temperatures, in some implementations, the density of the CO2capturesolution 114 is at least 10% greater than the density of water. In some implementations, at comparable reference temperatures, the density of the CO2capture solution 114 is approximately 10% greater than the density of water. The density and the viscosity of the CO2capture solution 114 can vary depending on the composition of the CO2capture solution 114 and the temperature. For example, at temperatures of 0°C to 20°C, the CO2capture solution 114 or a CO2-laden capture solution 111 (see below) can comprise 1 M KOH and 0.5 M K2CO3and can have a density ranging from 1115-1119 kg / m3and a viscosity ranging from 1.3-2.3 mPa-s. In another example, at temperatures of 20°C to 0°C, the CO2capture solution 114 or the CO2-laden capture solution 111 can comprise 2 M KOH and 1 M K2CO3, and can have a density ranging from 1260-1266 kg / m3and a viscosity ranging from 1.8-3.1 mPa-s. In comparison, water has a density of 998 kg / m3and viscosity of 1 mPa-s at 20°C.

[0140] In some implementations, and referring to FIG. 1, CO2from the CO2-laden air 101 is captured by contacting the CO2-laden air 101 with the CO2capture solution 114 in the gas-sorbent contactor 100. Reacting the CO2from the CO2-laden air 101 with the CO2capture solution 114 (for example) can form a CO2-laden capture solution 111. In the configuration where the CO2capture solution 114 comprises an alkali hydroxide, CO2is absorbed by reacting with the alkali hydroxide to form a carbonate-rich capture solution (e.g., K2CO3, Na2CO3, or a combination thereof). The CO2-laden capture solution 111 can include the carbonate-rich capture solution and is thus sometimes referred to herein as the “carbonate-rich capture solution 111”. The CO2-laden capture solution 111 can be processed to recover the captured CO2for downstream use and to regenerate the alkali hydroxide for use in the CO2capture solution 114. In some implementations, recovered CO2can be delivered downhole and sequestered in a geological formation, subsurface reservoir, carbon sink, or the like. In some implementations, the recovered CO2can be used for enhanced oil recovery by injecting the recovered CO2into one or more wellbores to enhance production of hydrocarbons from a reservoir. In some implementations, recovered CO2can be fed to a downstream fuel synthesis system, which can include a syngas generation reactor.

[0141] The term “carbonate-rich,” in some aspects, can mean that a stream contains more CO2 than the associated CCh-lean stream (in this case, CO2 capture solution 114). Therefore, in some implementations, the DAC facility 600, 600 A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 provides a CO2 “lean” solution to the gas-sorbent contactor 100, and also receives a CO2 “rich” solution from the gas-sorbent contactor 100.

[0142] The CO2-laden capture solution 111 can also include other components in smaller amounts, such as hydroxide ions, alkali metal hydroxide (e.g., KOH, NaOH), water,and impurities. For example, the carbonate-rich capture solution 111 can comprise between 0.4 M to 6 M K2CO3 and between 1 M to 10 M KOH. In another implementation, the carbonate- rich capture solution 111 can comprise an aqueous Na2CO3-NaOH mixture. In some implementations, the carbonate-rich capture solution 111 can comprise a mixture of K2CO3and Na2CO3.

[0143] The capture kinetics of capturing CO2from the CO2-laden air 101 to form carbonate can be improved by the introduction of an additive such as a promoter species in the CO2capture solution 114. Non-limiting examples of promoters for boosting CO2capture with carbonate include carbonic anhydrase, amines (primary, secondary, tertiary), zwitterionic amino acids, and boric acid. The resulting carbonate-rich capture solution 111 produced by the gas-sorbent contactor 100 includes carbonates and bicarbonates and includes the promoter as well. An example composition of such a carbonate-rich capture solution 111 can include K2CO3 / KHCO3and a promoter. The carbonate-rich capture solution 111 resulting from such a CO2capture solution 114 can have a pH in the range of 11-13 and can have little residual hydroxide from the CO2capture solution 114. In some cases, additives that are not considered promoters can be used to improve the uptake of CO2in the CO2capture solution 114.

[0144] Still referring to FIG. 1, the gas-sorbent contactor 100 includes a housing 102. The housing 102 defines part of the corpus of the gas-sorbent contactor 100 and provides structure thereto. The housing 102 includes exterior structure or walls that partially enclose any combination of interconnected structural members 115. The structural members 115 provide structural support and stability to the gas-sorbent contactor 100 and provide a body for supporting components of the gas-sorbent contactor 100 within the housing 102. The structural members 115 can include, but are not limited to, walls, panels, beams, frames, etc. The housing 102 can include other components as well, such as cladding, panels, etc. which help to close off parts of the housing 102 and define the enclosure of the housing 102. The housing 102 at least partially encloses and defines an interior 113 of the housing 102. The interior 113 of the housing 102 is an inner volume or inner space in which components of the gas-sorbent contactor 100 are positioned. The housing 102 also includes openings 103 that allow for movement of gases into and out of the gas-sorbent contactor 100. For example, and referring to FIG. 1, the housing 102 has one or more inlet(s) 1031. In the implementation of FIG. 1, the one or more inlet(s) 1031 are formed by the openings 103, such that the inlet(s) 1031 can be referred to herein as one or more inlet opening(s) 1031 through which the CO2-laden air 101 enters the interior 113 of the housing 102. The housing 102 has one or more outlet(s) 1030. In the implementation of FIG. 1, the one or more outlet(s) 1030 are formed by the openings 103, 1such that the outlet(s) 1030 can be referred to herein as one or more outlet opening(s) 1030 through which the CO2-lean gas 105 exits the interior 113 of the housing 102. In the example implementation of the gas-sorbent contactor 100 of FIG. 1, the housing 102 defines two inlets 1031 and one outlet 1030. The outlet 1030 can be defined by a component of the gas-sorbent contactor 100. For example, in the implementation of the gas-sorbent contactor 100 of FIG. 1, the gas-sorbent contactor 100 has a fan stack 107 with an upright orientation. The fan stack 107 extends upwardly from the housing 102 and helps to discharge the CO2-lean gas 105. The outlet 1030 is positioned along the fan stack 107. In such an implementation, the CO2-laden air 101 enters the interior 113 of the housing 102 along a substantially horizontal direction through one or both of the inlets 1031, and the CO2-lean gas 105 exits the interior 113 along a substantially vertical direction through the outlet 1030. The outlet 1030 is located at the upper extremity of the fan stack 107. In implementations of the gas-sorbent contactor 100 without a fan stack 107, the outlet 1030 can be located elsewhere. Other configurations for the inlets and outlets 1031,1030 of the housing 102 are possible.

[0145] The housing 102 at least partially encloses and protects components of the gassorbent contactor 100 positioned in the interior 113 of the housing 102. One example of such a component is a gas-sorbent interface 129 which includes a packing section 106, which is protected from the surrounding atmosphere by the housing 102. As can be seen in FIG. 1, one or more packing sections 106, which are sometimes referred to herein collectively as “fill 106” or “packing 106”, are located within the interior 113 in a position adjacent to the one or more inlets 1031. In this position, the one or more packing sections 106 receive the CO2-laden air 101 which enters the interior 113 via the one or more inlets 1031. The one or more packing sections 106 function to increase transfer of CO2present in the CO2-laden air 101 to a flow of the capture solution 114, in that the one or more packing sections 106 provide a large surface area for the capture solution 114 to disperse on, thereby increasing the reactive area between the CO2-laden air 101 and the capture solution 114. The capture solution 114 transforms the CO2-laden air 101 into the CO2-lean gas 105 which is discharged from the one or more outlet(s) 1030 of the gas-sorbent contactor 100. The packing sections 106 receives the CO2capture solution 114 and facilitates absorption of the CO2present in the CO2-laden air 101 into the CO2capture solution 114 on the packing sections 106, as described in greater detail below.

[0146] Still referring to FIG. 1, one possible arrangement of the packing sections 106 includes two or more packing sections 106A, 106B. Each packing section 106A, 106B is positioned adjacent to and downstream of one of the inlets 1031. The packing sections 106A, 106B are spaced apart from each other within the housing 102. The direction along which thepacking sections 106A, 106B are spaced apart is parallel to the direction along which the CO2- laden air 101 flows through the packing sections 106A, 106B. The space or volume defined between the packing sections 106A, 106B and / or one or more structural members of the housing 102 is a plenum 108. The plenum 108 is flanked by the packing sections 106A, 106B. The plenum 108 is a void or space within the housing 102 into which gases flow downstream of the packing sections 106 A, 106B (e.g., the CO2-lean gas 105), and from which the CO2-lean gas 105 flows out of the housing 102 through the outlet 1030. The plenum 108 is part of the interior 113 of the housing 102. The volume of the plenum 108 is less than a volume of the interior 113. In some implementations, the volume of the interior 113 of the housing 102 is approximately equal to the combined volume of the packing sections 106 A, 106B and the plenum 108. Referring to FIG. 1, the packing sections 106 A, 106B are positioned along the same level, or are positioned along the same horizontal lower plane, as the plenum 108. Referring to FIG. 1, the plenum 108 can include an upper plenum portion 108U that is an uppermost portion of the plenum 108, and a lower plenum portion 108L that is a lowermost portion of the plenum 108. A total height of the plenum 108 is defined as the height of the upper plenum portion 108U plus the height of the lower plenum portion 108L. Part of the upper plenum portion 108U is defined by housing plenum walls 102W of the housing 102, and a remainder of the upper plenum portion 108U is defined by the portion of the fan stack 107 positioned beneath the fan 212. The housing plenum walls 102W extend upwardly from a remainder of the housing 102. In some implementations, and referring to FIG. 1, the housing plenum walls 102W are the uppermost portion of the housing 102. The height of the upper plenum portion 108U includes a lower height portion defined by the housing plenum walls 102W, and an upper heigh portion defined by the portion of the fan stack 107 positioned beneath the fan 212. In some implementations, the lower height portion defined by the housing plenum walls 102W is two thirds of the height of the upper plenum portion 108U, and the upper height portion defined by the portion of the fan stack 107 positioned beneath the fan 212 is one third of the height of the upper plenum portion 108U. This configuration of the upper plenum portion 108U can reduce reingestion of part of the CO2-lean gas 105 at the inlet 1031. Referring to FIG. 1, part of the upper plenum portion 108U, and thus part of the plenum 108, extends into the fan stack 107 or cowling. After the CO2-laden air 101 flows through the packing sections 106A, 106B, the CO2-lean gas 105 flows through the plenum 108 before being discharged to the ambient environment. In other implementations of the gas-sorbent contactor 100, the plenum is absent. The gas-sorbent contactor 100 can include one or more portions of drifteliminators to remove or reduce CO2capture solution 114 that can be entrained in the CO2-lean gas 105 flowing through the plenum 108.

[0147] In the example implementation of the gas-sorbent contactor 100 of FIG. 1, the CO2-laden air 101 enters the interior 113 of the housing 102 along a substantially horizontal direction through both of the inlets 1031. The CO2-laden air 101 then flows through the packing sections 106A, 106B along a substantially horizontal direction, where the CO2present in the CO2-laden air 101 contacts the CO2capture solution 114 present on the packing sections 106 A, 106B and / or flowing in a substantially downward direction over the packing sections 106A, 106B. The exposed surface of the liquid film on the packing sections 106A, 106B is a liquidgas interface between the CO2-laden air 101 and the CO2capture solution 114. CO2from the CO2-laden air 101 is absorbed into the liquid film to form the CO2-laden capture solution 111 and the CO2-lean gas 105. The CO2-laden capture solution 111 flows downwardly off the packing sections 106 A, 106B in a mixed solution with unreacted CO2capture solution 114 and is collected. The CO2-laden air 101 treated by the packing sections 106A, 106B exits the packing sections 106 A, 106B as the CO2-lean gas 105. The CO2-lean gas 105 from both packing sections 106 A, 106B converges in the plenum 108, and then flows in a vertically upward direction out of the plenum 108 through the outlet 1030. The gas-sorbent contactor 100 of FIG. 1 can be considered a dual-cell (because of the two packing sections 106A,106B), cross-flow air contactor. Other configurations of a gas-sorbent contactor are possible, as described in greater detail below.

[0148] Each packing section 106 defines a packing depth 106D, which represents the distance traversed by the CO2-laden air 101 as it flows through the packing section 106. The packing depth 106D can be in the range of 2-10 meters. Each packing section 106 also defines a packing liquid travel dimension 106L (sometimes referred to herein as the “packing LTD 106L”), which represents the distance traversed by the capture solution 114 as it flows through the packing section 106. In the gas-liquid contactor 100 of FIG. 1, the packing depth 106D is transverse to the packing LTD 106L. In the gas-liquid contactor 100 of FIG. 1, the packing depth 106D is defined along a substantially horizontal direction, and the packing LTD 106L is a vertical dimension. In some implementations, the packing LTD 106L (i.e., the height of each packing section 106) is greater than 2 m. In some implementations, the packing LTD 106L is greater than 5 m. In some implementations, the packing LTD 106L is between 2 m and 20 m. In some implementations, the packing depth 106D is greater than 3 m. In some implementations, the packing depth 106D is greater than 5 m. In some implementations, the packing depth 106D is between 3 m and 10 m. In other configurations of the gas-liquidcontactor 100, the packing depth 106D and the packing LTD 106L can be defined differently, as described in greater detail below.

[0149] Referring to FIG. 1, each packing section 106 includes one or more structured packings 116. In the implementation of the packing sections 106 of FIG. 1, each packing section 106 includes multiple structured packings 116. Within one of the packing sections 106, each structured packing 116 is arranged adjacent to another structured packing 116. The structured packings 116 of each packing section 106 can be arranged adjacent to each other in the direction of one or more of the packing depths 106D, the packing LTD 106L, and a direction perpendicular to both of the packing depth 10D and the packing LTD 106L (e.g., perpendicular to the plane of the page of FIG. 1). Within one of the packing sections 106, in some implementations one structured packing 116 is attached to another structured packing 116. Within one of the packing sections 106, in some implementations the structured packings 116 of each packing section 106 are arranged next to one another with minimal separation or gaps along one or more of the packing depths 106D, the packing LTD 106L, and a direction perpendicular to both of the packing depth 10D and the packing LTD 106L (e.g., perpendicular to the plane of the page of FIG. 1).

[0150] Referring to FIG. 1 , some of the structured packings 116 of each packing section 106 are mounted to one or both of 1) a structural member 115 of the housing 102, and 2) at least one other structured packing 116. This support of the structured packings 116 reinforces their arrangement within each packing section 106, helps to rigidify each packing section 106, and can also help each structured packing 116 resist or support loads acting upon it during operation of the gas-liquid contactor 100. For example, in mounting the structured packings 116 as described above, the structured packings 116 become constrained which can result in an increase in the overall strength (e.g., crush strength) of each structured packing 116 and of each packing section 106, compared to a packing structure that is unconstrained.

[0151] The structured packings 116 can be arranged to form packing sections 106 of any desired shape or configuration. For example, and referring to FIG. 1, the structured packings 116 are arranged such that each packing section 106A,106B includes at least one arrangement 118 of the structured packings 116. In FIG. 1, each packing section 106A,106B includes two arrangements 118 of the structured packing 116 - an upper arrangement 118U and a lower arrangement 118L. The structured packings 116 of each arrangement 118 can be arranged adjacent to each other in the direction of one or more of the packing depths 106D, the packing LTD 106L, and the direction perpendicular to both of the packing depth 106D and the packing LTD 106L (e.g., perpendicular to the plane of the page of FIG. 1). All the structuredpackings 116 of each upper arrangement 118U are positioned above all the structured packings 116 of each lower arrangement 118L. Each arrangement 118 can be considered a “slab” of packing. Other configurations of each arrangement 118, and of the positioning of the arrangements 118 of each packing section 106, are possible. The packing sections 106A,106B of FIG. 1 are thus vertically sectioned, and include one or more arrangements 118 of structured packings 116 positioned one above another.

[0152] In the example implementation of the packing sections 106 of FIG. 1, each packing section 106A, 106B has a respective packing section height that are substantially equal to a height of the inlets 1031. Providing the packing sections 106 with substantially the same height as the height of the inlet 1031 can help to prevent or reduce the ability of the CO2-laden air 101 to bypass the packing sections 106 (e.g., flow around the packing sections 106), thereby helping to ensure that the greatest possible volume of CO2-laden air 101 is treated by the packing sections 106. By “substantially equal” or “substantially the same”, it is understood that the heights are approximately equal in value, with any differences being minimal compared to the overall height dimension, where said differences can result from manufacturing tolerances, packing installation requirements, and / or adjustments in dimensions to allow for seals, baffles or other features. Other configurations for the packing sections 106 are possible. For example, in another implementation, the heights of the packing sections 106 A, 106B are less than the height of the inlet 1031, and any gaps between the packing sections 106 A, 106B and the housing 102 are sealed using suitable techniques.

[0153] Referring to FIG. 1, each structured packing 116 includes, or is composed of, multiple packing sheets 130 attached together to form a three-dimensional structured packing 116. The packing sheets 130 of each structured packing 116 can be made of any suitable material, or have any suitable configuration, to achieve the function ascribed to the packing sections 106 herein. Some or all of the packing sheets 130 can be made from PVC, which is relatively light, moldable, affordable, and resists degradation caused by many chemicals. The packing sheets 130 are arranged, constructed, treated or otherwise configured to promote spreading of the liquid CO2capture solution 114 into a thin film on the surfaces of the packing sheets 130, which can enable maximum exposure of the liquid CO2capture solution 114 to the CO2present in the CO2-laden air 101. For example, the liquid-gas interface surface of one or more of the packing sheets 130 can be treated with a coating, have shapes or formations, and / or be made of a material that vary the surface energy (e.g., increase the surface energy) of portions of the packing sheet 130 and / or lower the contact angle of the liquid CO2capture solution 114. For example, the hydrophilicity of the liquid-gas surface of one or more of the packing sheets130 can be increased by applying a coating to increase the surface free energy. Coatings can be applied to some or all of the structured packing 116 to make the structured packing 116 even more suitable for low liquid loading rates ranging from 0.5 L / m2s to 2.5 L / m2s. In this regard, reference is made to such surface treatments and modifications in US patent application having publication number US 2022 / 0176312, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein. Such “film-type” packing sheets 130 are suitable for DAC facilities since they have the capacity for more effective mass transfer per unit volume of fill space. For example, filmtype fill offers a relatively high ratio of specific surface area to volume, the ratio defined in units of m2 / m3. A high specific surface area helps to expose more CO2 to the surface of the CO2 capture solution 114, and also has cost and structural implications.

[0154] The gas-liquid contactor 100 can include other configurations of the one or more packing section(s) 106 in addition to, or separate from, the packing sections 106 described above. Non -limiting examples of other types of packing, fill, and gas-sorbent interfaces 129 include splash fill, film fill, random packing, mesh, panels, etc. The packing section(s) 106 and / or gas-sorbent interfaces 129 can include corrugated sheets arranged in a crisscrossing relationship to create flow channels for the vapour phase. The gas-sorbent interfaces 129 can include any material that fills a space and facilitates the contact between the CO2-laden air 101 and a sorbent (liquid and / or solid). In example implementations, such as where the gas-sorbent contactor 100 employs a solid sorbent, the gas-sorbent interfaces 129 can include the sorbent material itself. The packing section(s) 106 can include loose, random or structured materials. The packing section(s) 106 can include: a cross flow geometry designed to limit or minimize the pressure drop in the CO2-laden air 101; can be efficiently wetted by intermittent liquid flows; and, has a liquid hold up enabling intermittent operation with long time durations between wetting.

[0155] Referring to FIG. 1, the gas-sorbent contactor 100 has, includes components of, or is functionally linked to, a liquid distribution system 120. The liquid distribution system 120 operates to move, collect and distribute the CO2capture solution 114 and / or the CO2-laden capture solution 111. At least some of the features of the liquid distribution system 120 are supported by the housing 102. In the example implementation of FIG. 1, the support provided by the housing 102 includes structural support, in that components of the liquid distribution system 120 are structurally supported by the housing 102, such as by the structural members 115, so that loads generated by these components are supported by the housing 102. Some or all of the features of the liquid distribution system 120 can be part of the gas-sorbent contactor100, or part of a DAC facility as disclosed herein (see, for example, the DAC facility of FIG. 6).

[0156] Referring to FIG. 1, the liquid distribution system 120 includes one or more liquid collection devices 109. Each liquid collection device 109 is configured to receive one or both of the CO2capture solution 114 and the CO2-laden capture solution 111 and to hold a volume thereof temporarily or for a longer duration, thereby serving as a source of the CO2capture solution 114 and / or of the CO2-laden capture solution 111. Each liquid collection device 109 can have any configuration or be made of any material suitable to achieve the function ascribed to it in the present description. For example, one or more of the liquid collection devices 109 can be open-topped, or partially or fully covered. In FIG. 1, one or more of the liquid collection devices 109 include, or are in the form of, basins. Other configurations of the liquid collection device 109 are possible, such as a reservoir, a bed, a sheet, a culvert, a container, a receptable, a network of pressurized pipes with openings or spray nozzles, or any other device capable of retaining liquid.

[0157] The liquid collection devices 109 of the liquid distribution system 120 include one or more top basins 104 and one or more bottom basins 110. The top basins 104 are supported by the housing 102. In some implementations, the top basins 104 are formed from portions of the housing 102. The top basins 104 are configured to at least partially enclose or store the CO2capture solution 114. Referring to FIG. 1, the top basins 104 are each positioned at least partially above the packing sections 106. Referring to FIG. 1, the top basins 104 are positioned above the inlets 1031. Referring to FIG. 1, the top basins 104 are positioned beneath the upper plenum portion 108U. Part of the plenum 108 (e.g., the upper plenum portion 108U) thus extends beyond or above the top basins 104. When stored (at least transiently) within the top basins 104, the CO2capture solution 114 is positioned to be circulated (e.g., through pumping, gravity flow or both) downwards, through the packing sections 106 and ultimately into the bottom basin 110. As the CO2capture solution 114 is circulated through the packing sections 106, the CO2-laden air 101 is circulated through the packing sections 106 to contact the CO2capture solution 114, through the plenum 108, and to an ambient environment as the CO2-lean gas 105. A process stream is formed by contacting the CO2-laden air 101 and the liquid CO2capture solution 114, where the process stream is or includes the CO2-laden capture solution 111 having CO2absorbed from the CO2-laden air 101 by the CO2capture solution 114. The top basins 104 can each have any suitable form or feature for distributing the CO2capture solution 114 over the packing sections 106. In the example implementation of the gas-liquid contactor 100 of FIG. 1, the liquid collection devices 109 include two top basins 104. Each topbasin 104 is positioned above one of the packing sections 106A, 106B to distribute the CO2capture solution 114 to the respective packing section 106 A, 106B. The top basins 104 of FIG. 1 are fluidly isolated from one another (e.g., no fluid communication between the two top basins 104). Other configurations and numbers of the top basins 104 are possible. Other configurations for the distribution of the CO2capture solution 114 over the packing sections 106 is possible. In one such possible configuration, the one or more of the liquid collection devices 109 include, or are in the form of, a network of pressurized pipes with openings or spray nozzles which distribute the CO2capture solution 114 over the uppermost portions of the packing sections 106.

[0158] Referring to FIG. 1, the one or more bottom basins 110 are positioned at the bottom of the gas-liquid contactor 100 opposite the top basins 104. As can be seen in FIG. 1, the bottom basin 110 is positioned below the packing sections 106. The bottom basin 110 acts as a collection tank for the process stream (e.g., the CO2-laden capture solution 111). The CO2- laden capture solution 111 including absorbed CO2, as well as unreacted CO2capture solution 114, collects in the bottom basin 110, and can then be pumped or otherwise moved out of the bottom basin 110 for further processing. For example, at least a portion of the liquids collected in the bottom basin 110 can be processed and then pumped for redistribution over the packing sections 106 for use in CO2capture. In another possible implementation, some or all of the liquids collected in the bottom basin 110 is pumped to the top basins 104 without being processed, for redistribution over the packing sections 106 for CO2capture. In another possible implementation, some or all of the liquids collected in the bottom basin 110 are pumped to components of a DAC facility 600, 600 A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 (see, for example, FIGS. 6A-6B and 9-12) for further processing, as described in greater detail below. The bottom basin 110 can be compatible with a containment structure and prevent loss of various CO2capture solutions 114, many of which have corrosive, caustic or high pH properties. In some aspects, the bottom basin 110 can be lined or coated with one or more materials that are resistant to caustic induced corrosion or degradation. In some implementations of the gas-liquid contactor 100, components can be kept out of the bottom basin 110 holding the CO2capture solution 114. Additionally, the gas-liquid contactor 100 can be designed to keep most or all the structural components out of the wettable area of the gas-liquid contactor 100, e.g., any portion of the gas-liquid contactor 100 that is in contact with the CO2capture solution 114. Examples of wettable areas of the gas-liquid contactor 100 includes components supporting the packing sections 106. FIG. 1 depicts a single bottom basin 110. However, other configurations and numbers of bottom basins 110 are possible.

[0159] In some implementations, the gas-sorbent contactor 100 includes vertically sectioned packing sections 106 with redistribution of the CO2capture solution 114 between the vertically spaced apart packing. For example, and referring to FIG. 1, the liquid collection devices 109 of the liquid distribution system 120 include one or more redistribution basins 119. The one or more redistribution basins 119 are each positioned in a redistribution spacing that is defined between the upper and lower arrangements 118U,118L of each packing section 106A,106B. The redistribution spacing is a vertically extending gap defined between the upper and lower arrangements 118U, 118L of each packing section 106A, 106B. Each packing section 106A,106B includes a redistribution basin 119, which is positioned in the redistribution spacing of that packing section 106A,106B. Thus, in the configuration of packing sections 106A,106B of FIG. 1, each redistribution basin 119 divides each packing section 106A,106B into at least a top section (i.e., the upper arrangement 118U of structured packings 116) and a bottom section (i.e., the lower arrangement 118L of structured packings 116). Each redistribution basin 119 is located vertically between the one or more top basins 104 and the bottom basin 110. During operation of the gas-liquid contactor 100, a process stream including the CO2-laden capture solution 111 including absorbed CO2as well as unreacted CO2capture solution 114 flows from each upper arrangement 118U of structured packings 116 and collects in each redistribution basin 119. When stored (at least transiently) within the redistribution basins 119, the process stream is positioned to be redistributed (e.g., through pumping, gravity flow or both) downwards, through the remaining structured packings 116 of the lower arrangement 118L and eventually into the bottom basin 110. In some implementations, the process stream is pumped into the redistribution basins 119 from the bottom basin 110. The redistribution basins 119 can each have any suitable form or feature for redistributing the process stream over the structured packings 116 of the of the lower arrangement 118L. Nonlimiting examples of features of the redistribution basins 119 include basin walls, redistribution apertures, and redistribution nozzles. Thus, in the gas-sorbent contactor 100, there can be a collector / distributor system between vertical sections of packing that collects fluid flowing from above and redistributes it evenly to the packing below. The description and one, some, or all of the advantages, and functions of features of the top basins 104 and of the bottom basin 110 apply mutatis mutandis to the distributor basin 119.

[0160] In alternate implementations of redistribution of the CO2capture solution 114 between the vertically spaced apart packing, the packing sections 106 themselves include redistribution features. The redistribution features can be part of redistribution packing that is different from the structured packings 116. The redistribution packing can have a verticalextent and be positioned between arrangements 118U,118L of structured packings 116, for example mid-way up the packing LTD 106L. Alternatively, the redistribution packing can include multiple redistribution packing portions alternating with arrangements 118U,118L of structured packings 116. The redistribution features promote redistribution of the CO2capture solution 114 to lower portions of the packing sections 106. In alternate implementations of the gas-sorbent contactor 100, the gas-sorbent contactor 100 does not include vertically-sectioned packing or redistribution.

[0161] Referring to FIG. 1, the CO2capture solution 114 flows over the packing sections 106 in a direction that is substantially perpendicular or transverse to the average direction along which the CO2-laden air 101 circulates through the packing sections 106, also known as a “cross flow” configuration. In another possible implementation, the CO2capture solution 114 flows over the packing sections 106 in a direction that is opposite to the average direction along which the CO2-laden air 101 circulates through the packing sections 106, also known as a “counter flow” configuration. In another possible implementation, the CO2capture solution 114 flows over the packing sections 106 in a direction that is parallel with the direction along which the CO2-laden air 101 circulates through the packing sections 106, also known as a “concurrent flow” configuration. In another possible configuration, the CO2capture solution 114 flows over the packing sections 106 according to a configuration that is a combination of one or more of cross flow, counter flow and concurrent flow configurations.

[0162] The gas-sorbent contactor 100 can include supports positioned within the packing sections 106 between the top basins 104 and bottom basin 110. For example, the packing sections 106 can include additional support, such as one or more structural members 115, for a specific portion of the packing sections 106, such as for an upper portion of the packing sections 106, so that the loads (e.g., the weight of the portion of structured packings 116 when dry plus the weight of the liquid hold up of the CO2capture solution 114 on the portion of the structured packings 116) do not bear upon another portion of the packing sections 106 (e.g., a bottom portion of the packing sections 106). In some aspects, the packing sections 106 can not include the support. In some aspects, at least one structural support can be positioned between the structured packings 116 of the packing sections 106.

[0163] The liquid distribution system 120 can include any suitable componentry, such as piping, weir(s), pump(s), valve(s), manifold(s), etc., fluidly coupled in any suitable arrangement, to achieve the functionality ascribed to the liquid distribution system 120 herein. One non- limiting example of such componentry is one or more pump(s) 122, an example of which is shown in FIG. 1. The pumps 122 function to move liquids under pressure, such as theC02capture solution 114 and / or the CO2-laden capture solution 111, from their source to where they are used. Some non-limiting examples of possible functions of the pumps 122 include moving the CO2capture solution 114 to the top basins 104, moving the process streams from the bottom basin 110 to the redistribution basins 119, moving the CO2capture solution 114 and / or the CO2-laden capture solution 111 from the bottom basin 110 to the top basins 104 for redistribution over the packing sections 106, moving the CO2capture solution 114 and / or the CO2-laden capture solution 111 from the bottom basin 110 to components of the DAC facility 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 for further processing, and any combination of the preceding flows. The pumps 122 can thus be used to move liquid to, from and within the gassorbent contactor 100.

[0164] A control system (e.g., control system 999 shown in FIG. 1) can be used to control the flow of fluid by the pumps 122 of the liquid distribution system 120. For example, a control system can be used to control the pumps 122 in order to pump the CO2capture solution 114 from the bottom basin 110 to the top basins 104. The pumps 122 can also be controlled such that a constant velocity of flow is provided to the liquid distribution system 120 regardless of changes of liquid flow throughout the gas-sorbent contactor 100.

[0165] The pumps 122 can help to distribute the CO2capture solution 114 over the packing sections 106 at relatively low liquid flow rates, which can help to reduce costs associated with pumping or moving the CO2capture solution 114. Further, low liquid flow rates of the CO2capture solution 114 over the packing sections 106 can result in a lower pressure drop of the CO2-laden air 101 as it flows through the packing sections 106, which reduces the energy requirements of the device used for moving the CO2-laden air 101 across the packing sections 106 (e.g., a fan 212 described below). The pumps 122 can be configured to generate intermittent or pulsed flow of the CO2capture solution 114 over the packing sections 106, which can allow for intermittent wetting of the packing sections 106 using relatively low liquid flows. The CO2capture solution 114 sprayed, flowed, or otherwise distributed over the packing sections 106 is collected in the bottom basin 110 and can then be moved by the pumps 122 back to the top basin 104, or sent downstream for processing.

[0166] In some implementations, and referring to FIG. 1, the one or more pump(s) 122 of the liquid distribution system are operable to flow the CO2capture solution 114 over each packing section 106 at a liquid loading rate ranging from 0.5 L / m2s to 10 L / m2s. In some implementations, the liquid loading rate is between 2 L / m2s and 6 L / m2s. The units L / m2s of the liquid loading rate refer to a given volume of the CO2capture solution 114 covering a given area of the packing section 106, each second. The given area of the packing section 106 canrefer to a plane area of a top of the packing section 106, such as the area of the packing section 106 underneath the top basin 104 (i.e., looking down on the top part of the packing section 106 from the top basin 104). When determined using the plane area, a liquid loading rate of 2 L / m2s means that the pump(s) 122 is configured to flow the CO2capture solution 114 over each packing section 106 such that every second each square meter of the plane area of the packing section 106 receives 2 L of the CO2capture solution 114. The given area of the liquid loading rate can not refer to the area of a surface of the structured packing 116. The liquid loading rate can refer to, or be reflective of, an initial flow condition where the CO2capture solution 114 is applied to the top of the packing section 106. The liquid loading rate can not reflect subsequent flow conditions present lower down the packing section 106.

[0167] The liquid process streams in the gas-sorbent contactor 100, as well as process streams within any downstream processes with which the gas-sorbent contactor 100 is fluidly coupled, can be flowed using one or more flow control systems (e.g., control system 999). A flow control system can include one or more flow pumps (including or in addition to the pumps 122), fans, blowers, or solids conveyors to move the process streams, one or more flow pipes through which the process streams are flowed and one or more valves to regulate the flow of streams through the pipes. Each of the configurations described herein can include at least one variable frequency drive (VFD) coupled to a respective pump that is capable of controlling at least one liquid flow rate. In some implementations, liquid flow rates are controlled by at least one flow control valve.

[0168] In some implementations, a flow control system can be operated manually. For example, an operator can set a flow rate for each pump or transfer device and set valve open or close positions to regulate the flow of the process streams through the pipes in the flow control system. Once the operator has set the flow rates and the valve open or close positions for all flow control systems distributed across the system, the flow control system can flow the streams under constant flow conditions, for example, constant volumetric rate or other flow conditions. To change the flow conditions, the operator can manually operate the flow control system, for example, by changing the pump flow rate or the valve open or close position.

[0169] In some implementations, a flow control system can be operated automatically. For example, the flow control system can be connected to a computer or control system (e.g., control system 999) to operate the flow control system. The control system can include a computer-readable medium storing instructions (such as flow control instructions and other instructions) executable by one or more processors to perform operations (such as flow control operations). An operator can set the flow rates and the valve open or close positionsfor all flow control systems distributed across the facility using the control system. In such implementations, the operator can manually change the flow conditions by providing inputs through the control system. Also, in such implementations, the control system can automatically (that is, without manual intervention) control one or more of the flow control systems, for example, using feedback systems connected to the control system. For example, a sensor (such as a pressure sensor, temperature sensor or other sensor) can be connected to a pipe through which a process stream flows. The sensor can monitor and provide a flow condition (such as a pressure, temperature, or other flow condition) of the process stream to the control system. In response to the flow condition exceeding a threshold (such as a threshold pressure value, a threshold temperature value, or other threshold value), the control system can automatically perform operations. For example, if the pressure or temperature in the pipe exceeds the threshold pressure value or the threshold temperature value, respectively, the control system can provide a signal to the pump to decrease a flow rate, a signal to open a valve to relieve the pressure, a signal to shut down process stream flow, or other signals.

[0170] The gas-sorbent contactor 100 has a gas-circulating device which functions to move or circulate gas flows into and out of the gas-sorbent contactor 100. In the implementation of the gas-sorbent contactor of FIG. 1, the gas-circulating device of the gas-sorbent contactor 100 is a fan 212. The fan 212 functions to circulate gases like ambient air, such that the CO2- laden air 101 is caused by the fan 212 to flow into the gas-sorbent contactor 100, and such that the CO2-lean gas 105 is caused by the fan 212 to be discharged from the gas-sorbent contactor 100. The fan 212 thus functions to circulate the CO2-laden air 101 and the CO2-lean gas 105 in the manner described herein. Referring to FIG. 1, the fan 212 is rotatable about a fan axis defined by a fan shaft. In the implementation of the fan 212 depicted in FIG. 1, the fan axis has an upright or vertical orientation. Other orientations for the shaft and for the fan axis are possible, as described in greater detail below. Referring to FIG. 1, the fan 212 is positioned upstream of the end of the fan stack 107 that defines the outlet 1030 and functions to induce a flow of the CO2-lean gas 105 through the outlet 1030. In another possible configuration, the fan 212 is positioned elsewhere between the vertically-opposite ends of the fan stack 107 and upstream of the outlet 1030, such that the fan 212 flows the CO2-lean gas 105 through the outlet 1030. Referring to FIG. 1, the fan 212 is positioned downstream of, and above, the upper plenum portion 108U. Rotation of the fan 212 about the fan axis causes gases to circulate into the inlets 1031 and through the gas-liquid contactor 100. For example, in the implementation of the gas-sorbent contactor of FIG. 1, rotation of the fan 212 causes the CO2-laden air 101 to be drawn into the gas-sorbent contactor 100 and causes the CO2-lean gas 105 to be dischargedfrom the gas-sorbent contactor 100. The fan 212 can cause the CO2-laden air 101 to enter the packing sections 106 at airspeeds below 5 m / s. The fan 212 can cause the CO2-laden air 101 to enter the packing sections 106 at airspeeds between 0.1 m / s and 5 m / s. The control system 999 shown in FIG. 1 can be used to control the speed and / or blade pitch of the fan 212.

[0171] Other configurations of the gas-sorbent contactor 100 are possible, some of which are now described in greater detail. The gas-sorbent contactor 100 can include coolingtower style gas-liquid contactors, spray towers, liquid-gas scrubbers, venturi scrubbers, packed towers, and other systems designed to remove at least a portion of a particular gas component from a larger gas stream using a liquid or solid sorbent. The gas-sorbent contactor 100 can include single or multi cell air contactors, dual cell air contactors, dual flow air contactors, or a combination thereof. The gas-sorbent contactors 905 can operate in crossflow, countercurrent flow, co-current flow, or a combination thereof.

[0172] In one such possible configuration, and referring to FIG. 2A, the gas-sorbent contactor 100a can have an upright body and an air inlet 2103 along a bottom portion through which the CO2-laden air 101 is admitted into the gas-sorbent contactor 100a. The fan 2112 rotates to draw the CO2-laden air 101 through the inlet 2103 in an upward direction to contact the packing section 2106. In the configuration of FIG. 2A, the gas-sorbent contactor 100a is not a dual cell configuration, and instead has one packing section 2106, which can or can not consist of multiple sections and / or types of packing, and as such can be referred to as a "single cell" gas-sorbent contactor 100a. This configuration can not include a plenum that stretches from the bottom basin 2110 to the fan cowling, but can include a plenum chamber above the packing 2106 and between the drift eliminators and the fan 2112 and / or fan cowling. The CO2capture solution 114 circulates downwards by, for example, gravity flow, uniform or laminar flow, etc., within the packing 2106 and eventually flows into one or more bottom basins 2110. As the CO2capture solution 114 circulates through and over the packing 2106, the CO2-laden air 101 is flowing (e.g. , by action of the fan 2112) upwardly through the packing 2106 to contact the CO2capture solution 114. Thus, the flow of the CO2capture solution 114 through the packing 2106 in FIG. 2A is counter-current (or counterflow) to the flow of the CO2-laden air 101 through the packing 2106. The packing liquid travel dimension along which the CO2capture solution 114 flows through the packing 2106 is defined along the vertical direction and is the same as the packing depth along which the CO2-laden air 101 flows upwardly through the packing 2106. A portion of the CO2within the CO2-laden air 101 is transferred to (e.g., absorbed by) the CO2capture solution 114, and the fan 2112 moves the CO2lean gas 105 outof the gas-sorbent contactor 100a to an ambient environment. The CO2rich solution flows into the at least one bottom basin 2110.

[0173] Referring to FIG. 2B, another possible configuration of a gas-sorbent contactor 100B has an upright body and an inlet 3103 along an upright side portion through which the CO2-laden air 101 is admitted into the gas-sorbent contactor 100B. The fan 3112 rotates about a horizontal fan axis to draw the CO2-laden air 101 through the inlet 3103 in a substantially horizontal direction to contact the packing section 3106. In another possible implementation of the gas-liquid contactor 100B, the fan 3112 is upstream of the packing section 3106 relative to the flow direction of the CO2-laden air 101. In such an implementation, the gas-sorbent contactor 100B employs forced draft in which the fan 3112 rotates about a horizontal fan axis to “push” the CO2-laden air 101 through the inlet 3103 in a substantially horizontal direction to contact the packing section 3106. In the configuration of FIG. 2B, the gas-sorbent contactor 100B is not a dual cell configuration, and instead has one packing section 3106, which can or can not consist of multiple sections and / or types of packing, and as such can be referred to as a "single cell" gas-sorbent contactor 100B. This configuration can not include a plenum that stretches from the bottom basin 3110 to the fan cowling, but can include a plenum chamber above the packing 3106 and between the drift eliminators and the fan 3112 and / or fan cowling. The CO2capture solution 114 circulates downwards by, for example, gravity flow, uniform or laminar flow, etc., within the packing 3106 and eventually flows into one or more bottom basins 3110. As the CO2capture solution 114 circulates through the packing 3106, the CO2- laden air 101 is flowing (e.g., by action of the fan 3112) substantially horizontally through the packing 3106 to thereby contact the CO2capture solution 114. Thus, the flow of CO2capture solution 114 through the packing 3106 in FIG. 2B is substantially perpendicular to the flow of the CO2-laden air 101 through the packing 3106. Such a configuration of the flows can be referred to as a “cross flow” configuration. The packing liquid travel dimension along which the CO2capture solution 114 flows through the packing 2106 is defined along the vertical direction and is perpendicular to the packing depth along which the CO2-laden air 101 flows horizontally through the packing 2106. A portion of the CO2within the CO2-laden air 101 is transferred to the CO2capture solution 114, and the fan 3112 moves the CO2-lean gas 105 out of the gas-liquid contactor 100B to an ambient environment. The CO2rich solution flows into the at least one bottom basin 3110.

[0174] Referring to FIG. 2C, another possible configuration of a gas-liquid contactor 100C has an upright body and an air inlet 403 along a top portion through which the CO2-laden air 101 is admitted into the gas-liquid contactor 100C. The fan 421 rotates to push the CO2-laden air 101 into the gas-liquid contactor 100C and contact the packing section 406. In the configuration of FIG. 2C, the gas-liquid contactor 100C has only one packing section 406 and can therefore be referred to as a “single cell” gas-liquid contactor 100C. The CO2capture solution 114 circulates downwards by, for example, gravity flow, uniform or laminar flow, etc., within the packing 406 and eventually flows into one or more bottom basins 410. As the CO2capture solution 114 circulates downward through and over the packing 406, the CO2-laden air 101 (e.g., by action of the fan 421) also flows downward through the packing 406 to contact the CO2capture solution 114. Thus, the flow of the CO2capture solution 114 through the packing 406 in FIG. 2C is co-current to the flow of the CO2-laden air 101 through the packing 406. The packing liquid travel dimension along which the CO2capture solution 114 flows through the packing 406 is defined along the vertical direction, and is the same as the packing depth along which the CO2-laden air 101 flows downwardly through the packing 406. At least a portion of the CO2within the CO2-laden air 101 is transferred to (e.g., absorbed by) the CO2capture solution 114, and the fan pushes the CO2lean gas 105 out of the gas-liquid contactor 100C to an ambient environment. The CCh-ladcn capture solution 111 and the CO2 capture solution 114 flow into the at least one bottom basin 410.

[0175] The description and one, some, or all of the advantages, and functions of features of the gas-sorbent contactor 100 of FIG. 1 that are shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B apply mutatis mutandis to the gas-sorbent contactors 100A, 100B, 100C of FIGS. 2A and 2B. In some implementations, the DAC facility 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 includes multiple arrays or trains of gas-sorbent contactors 100. In this disclosure, the terms “train”, “array” and “wall” can be used interchangeably.

[0176] In another implementation, the gas-sorbent interface 129 of the gas-sorbent contactor 100A, 100B, 100C uses a solid sorbent for capturing the CO2 from the CO2-laden air 101. In such implementations, the gas-sorbent contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C can be referred to as a “gas-solid contactor”. The solid sorbent can include a solid porous sorbent material including, but not limited to, non-carbonaceous origin (e.g., zeolites, silica, metalorganic frameworks (MOFs) and porous polymers, alkali metal, and metal oxide carbonates) and carbonaceous origin (activated carbons and / or carbon fibers, graphene, ordered porous carbons, fibers), a solid structure with chemical sorbent materials including functional amine- based materials with or without cellulose, a solid polymer based material including polyethyleneimine silica, an aqueous solution combined with an anionic exchange resin, or combinations of any of the above. The solid sorbent can be incorporated into a structure designed to maximize contact with air. The solid sorbent can be integrated with the gas-sorbentinterface such that it is regenerated while remaining part of the gas-sorbent interface. In some implementations, this structure can be, but need not be limited to, a packed bed, a honeycomb monolith, or a series of plates or panels. During operation of the gas-sorbent contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C, the CCh-laden air 101 is flowed over the sorbent material using fans (e.g., fan 212). As the CCh-laden air 101 passes over the solid sorbent, CO2 molecules in the CO2- laden air 101 are adsorbed by the solid sorbent. Thereafter, the solid sorbent can be regenerated, by releasing the adsorbed CO2 from the solid sorbent. The regeneration can be performed using numerous techniques, such as heating the C'Ch-rich sorbent to a certain temperature, or through a pressure / vacuum or humidity swing. The regeneration facility disclosed herein can provide the material needed for regenerating the C'Ch-rich sorbent, such as heat (via steam, for example), and / or vacuum (via negative pressure creating machines). After regeneration, the solid sorbent is reused by the gas-sorbent contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C for the CO2 capture process. In some implementations, the gas-sorbent contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C, along with the solid sorbent, includes a steam generation unit and a water removal unit. In this gassorbent contactor 100, steam is used as a heat source to release the CO2 and regenerate the solid sorbent. The steam can be generated via heat recovery steam generators, boilers, reboilers, directly via steam from fuel synthesis units and / or can include condensate treatment units, heat exchangers and makeup chemicals.

[0177] FIG. 3 shows multiple gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C arranged to form a contactor wall 302. The number of gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C composing the contactor wall 302 can vary (as represented by the ellipsis symbolin FIG. 3). The contactor wall 302 can include a large number of gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C, for example between 10 and 100 gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C. In some implementations, the number of gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C in the contactor wall 302 is greater than 1,000. The number of gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C in the contactor wall 302 can be determined based on a plume generated by the contactor wall 302 during operation of the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C, as described in greater detail below. The contactor wall 302 extends along its own wall axis 309. The contactor wall 302 is part of a DAC facility 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 (see FIGS. 6-6B and 9-12), as described in greater detail below, and the DAC facilities disclosed herein can include multiple contactor walls 302. During operation, each gas-sorbent contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C emits the CO2-lean gas 105 from its outlet 1030. In this implementation, the CO2-lean gas 105 emitted from each fan stack 107 forms a CO2-lean plume 305. The CO2-lean plume 305 emitted by each gas-sorbent contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100Chas a concentration of CO2that is less than the concentration of CO2in the ambient air surrounding the CO2-lean plume 305.

[0178] In implementations where each gas-sorbent contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C uses a liquid sorbent, for example as in FIG. 1, the CCh-lean plume 305 is often cooler and less buoyant than ambient air because the CO2-laden air 101 that is ingested by each gas-sorbent contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C is cooled by the CO2 capture solution 114 as CO2is absorbed into the CO2 capture solution 114. The resulting CCh-lcan plume 305 discharged from the outlet 1030 of each gas-sorbent contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C is therefore denser than the ambient air.

[0179] Over time, the CO2-lean plume 305 emitted from each gas-sorbent contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C can settle toward the ground 301. Therefore, there is a risk that the CO2-lean plume 305 can be ingested through the air inlet(s) 1031 of one or more gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C, because the air inlets 1031 are proximate the ground 301. This phenomenon is known as plume reingestion or plume ingestion, and can affect the performance of individual gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C, contactor walls 302, and thus of the DAC facility 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 as a whole, as described in greater detail below. In contrast to this phenomenon, the plumes exiting conventional cooling towers can be warmer and more buoyant than ambient air as they are exhausted from the cooling tower, because the air flowing through the cooling tower and discharged therefrom is heated by the water transferring heat to the air.

[0180] Referring to FIG. 3, as the individual CCh-lcan plumes 305 exit from their respective gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C of the contactor wall 302, they interact and merge together, resulting in the formation of a larger, collective plume referred to as a wall plume 306 of the contactor wall 302. The wall plume 306 is larger in volume compared to the individual CCh-lcan plumes 305. Akin to the individual CCh-lean plumes 305, the wall plume 306 is CCh-lean, and has a CO2 concentration that is less than the concentration of CO2in the ambient air. The wall plume 306 can settle toward the ground 301. As such, some of the wall plume 306 can be ingested or reingested into the air inlet(s) 1031 of one or more of the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C making up the contactor wall 302.

[0181] For DAC facilities with multiple contactor walls 302, such as the DAC facility 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 described below, the phenomenon of reingestion of lower- CO2 air can reduce the overall efficiency of the CO2 capture process, because it is desirable in DAC applications for each gas-sorbent contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C to be able to ingest air which has the highest concentration of CO2. CO2 concentration at the air inlet 1031 of eachgas-sorbent contactor 100, 100 A, 100B, 100C can indicate the extent to which the wall plume 306 is re-ingested. If the CO2 concentration at the air inlet 1031 is below the CO2 concentration of the ambient air or atmospheric air, the gas-sorbent contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C can be re-ingesting CCh-lean gas from the wall plume 306. The range of inlet CO2 concentrations that indicate plume re-ingestion can change according to ambient or atmospheric conditions, which in turn, can change over time. For example, with current atmospheric CO2 concentrations of approximately 410 ppm to 420 parts per million (ppm), it can be determined that an acceptable inlet CO2 concentration can range from 385 ppm to 420 ppm. Therefore, an inlet CO2 concentration that is less than the lower limit of this range (for example, lower than 385 ppm) can indicate that the wall plume 306 has not sufficiently returned to ambient CO2 concentrations, and thus that part of the wall plume 306 is being ingested by the gassorbent contactor 100. Since the mass transfer of CChto the sorbent in each gas-sorbent contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C is dependent on the CO2 concentration of the CCh-laden air 101 at the air inlet 1031, reingestion of the CCh-lean wall plume 306 reduces the amount of CO2 captured in the gas-sorbent contactor 100, thus reducing the overall CO2 capture efficiency of the gas-sorbent contactor 100. For DAC facilities with multiple contactor walls 302 and with hundreds or even thousands of gas-sorbent contactors 100, this potential reduction in overall CO2 capture efficiency due to the presence of the wall plume 306 can significantly decrease the amount of ambient CO2 captured at the DAC facility 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400.

[0182] Referring to FIG. 3, the present disclosure relates to mitigating or reducing reingestion of some or all of the wall plume 306, so as to help improve the overall CO2 capture efficiency of a DAC facility 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 with large numbers of gassorbent contactors 100. One technique for mitigating or reducing reingestion of some or all of the wall plume 306 is to site, position, arrange and / or orient the contactor walls 302 and / or the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C to take advantage of the dispersion characteristics of the wall plume 306 over a plot of land that has a prevailing wind direction 308 (sometimes referred to herein as “PWD 308”).

[0183] Plume dispersion characteristics refer to the ways in which the wall plume 306 propagates after being generated by the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C in the presence of the PWD 308. When initially exhausted from each gas-sorbent contactor 100, the CCh-lean plume 305 has significant upward momentum imparted by the fan 212. This causes the CCh-lean plume 305 to rise. The CCh-lean plumes 305 of two or more gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C merge to form the wall plume 306, initially imparting their upward momentum to the wall plume 306. Over time, however, the wall plume 306 loses itsupward momentum. At such time, gravity acts on the cooler and thus denser wall plume 306 and causes it to descend toward the ground 301. The PWD 308 then disperses the wall plume 306 by blowing it along the ground 301. As such, some of the wall plume 306 can be ingested or reingested into the air inlet(s) 1031 of one or more of the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100 A, 100B, 100C making up the contactor wall 302. In implementations where the DAC facility 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 is located where there is a PWD 308, the PWD 308 can disperse the wall plume 306 in a predictable direction, such that its extent can be known or accurately predicted. While over time the concentration of CO2 in the wall plume 306 increases as the wall plume 306 mixes with adjacent ambient air which is comparatively richer in CO2, the CCh-lean wall plume 306 can still persist over large distances and for long durations, such that at the DAC facility 600, 600 A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400, there can be areas that remain affected by the persistent CCh-lean wall plume 306 and thus less suitable for gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C. The plume dispersion characteristics of the wall plume 306 can thus serve as constraints for siting components of the DAC facility 600, 600 A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400, for example by helping to locate and / or orient the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C in the areas which are not affected by the persistent CCh-lean wall plume 306. Thus, the plume dispersion characteristics of the wall plume 306 over a plot of land having a PWD 308 help to identify the areas of the plot of land which would be most suitable for locating and / or orienting gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C in order to eliminate or reduce reingestion of the wall plume 306 by the gas-sorbent contactors 100. The plume dispersion characteristics of the wall plume 306 over a plot of land having a PWD 308 also help to identify the areas of the plot of land where gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100 A, 100B, 100C might be operating with lower concentrations of CO2 in ingested air, thereby allowing for DAC facility 600, 600 A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 to compensate for, correct, or accommodate the affected gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C. The present disclosure thus aims to address how the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100 A, 100B, 100C of a DAC facility 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 can be sited and arranged in the DAC facility 600, 600 A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 to increase their exposure to air that has the highest concentration of CO2 in locations where the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C are also generating CCh-lean plumes 305. The present disclosure also aims to address how the gassorbent contactors 100, 100 A, 100B, 100C can be sited and arranged at the DAC facility 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400, by identifying locations for the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C where they can operate and ingest air that can have lower CO2 concentrations but that is still within acceptable CO2 concentration ranges, at DACfacilities 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 where gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C generate CCh-lean plumes 305.

[0184] Features of the contactor wall 302 can be defined relative to the PWD 308. For example, the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C of the contactor wall 302 include a leading gas-sorbent contactor 100L and a trailing gas-sorbent contactor 100T. The leading gas-sorbent contactor 100L is most upwind relative to the PWD 308, compared to all other gassorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C of the contactor wall 302. The leading gas-sorbent contactor 100L is positioned to directly face the PWD 308. The trailing gas-sorbent contactor 100T is the gas-sorbent contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C that is most downwind of the leading gas-sorbent contactor 100L, relative to the PWD 308. In example implementations, and referring to FIG. 3, the trailing gas-sorbent contactor 100T is the “last” gas-sorbent contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C when starting from the leading gas-sorbent contactor 100L and counting the remaining gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C in the direction of the PWD 308. In other example implementations, the trailing gas-sorbent contactor 100T is one or more of the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100 A, 100B, 100C near the “last” gas-sorbent contactor 100, the last gas-sorbent contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C being determined by counting the leading gas-sorbent contactor 100L as the “first” gas-sorbent contactor 100, 100 A, 100B, 100C and counting the remaining gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C in the direction of the PWD 308 as being before the last gas-sorbent contactor 100. Depending on the dispersion characteristics of the wall plume 306, the trailing gas-sorbent contactor 100T can include a small number of such gas-sorbent contactors 100.

[0185] FIGS. 4 and 5 provide examples of how the PWD 308 can be determined for a given location or plot of land. The PWD 308 can be understood to be the direction along which the wind blows more frequently than other directions, for a given location and over a reference period (typically a calendar year). For some locations, the PWD 308 can be understood as the direction along which the wind blows most of the time during the reference period. For example, in these locations, the number of days during which the wind blows along the PWD 308 is equal to at least half the year. The PWD 308 is typically expressed in degrees. For example, a PWD 308 of 100° indicates that the wind is blowing toward a particular location along an east-by-south heading for a given number of days (e.g., more than half the days of the year, or the highest number of days compared to other wind directions). The PWD 308 can be defined with an acceptable variation or delta, for example ± 10°. An example of this is defining the PWD 308 as the heading of the wind (for example, 100°) for at least half the days of theyear, plus / minus the accepted angular variation (for example, ± 10°), resulting in a PWD 308 of 100° ± 10°. The PWD 308 can be a characteristic or feature of a given location and can be determined based on meteorological data for that location from one or more years.

[0186] FIG. 4 shows a chart 400 plotting the number of days (Y-axis, also referred to as the frequency) that the wind has a particular direction (X-axis, expressed in degrees). FIG.4 can be representative of the wind conditions at a location along the Gulf Coast of the United States, such as a location along the Gulf Coast of Texas. The X-axis of FIG. 4 uses the standard meteorological convention where directions are measured clockwise from true north. Therefore, 0° corresponds to north, 90° to east, 180° to south, and 270° to west. Most prominent data points in FIG. 4 are represented by peaks. FIG. 4 shows a first peak 402 at approximately 150° along the X-axis, which indicates that on approximately 300 days in a year, the wind is blowing toward the location along an approximately southeast-by-south heading. A second peak 404 in FIG. 4 is at approximately 330°-350° along the X-axis, which indicates that on approximately 130 days in a year, the wind is blowing toward the location along a northwesterly heading. The chart 400 of FIG. 4 shows that the wind can have more than one heading on any given day of the year, such that the total number of days on the Y-axis of FIG. 4 exceeds the days in a year. The first peak 402 shows that on most days of the year, the wind at this location is blowing from a southerly direction, and specifically, along a heading of approximately 150°. The second peak 404 shows that on many days of the year but still fewer than the number of days of the first peak 402, the wind at this location is blowing from a northwesterly direction, and specifically, along a heading of approximately 330°-350°. The heading of approximately 330°-350° of the second peak 404 corresponds to an approximately 180° offset from the heading of the first peak 402, suggesting that during the days of the second peak 404, the wind is blowing in the opposite direction compared to its direction during the days of the first peak 402. This in fact corresponds to a seasonal shift in wind direction along the Gulf Coast of Texas, where the wind typically blows from the southeast during most of the year (such as the warmer months), and from the northwest during fewer days of the year (such as the colder months). Based on the data presented in FIG. 4, it is possible to determine the PWD 308 for this particular location is defined by the first peak 402 as being approximately 150°, which corresponds to a southeast-by-south heading.

[0187] FIG. 5 shows a blank wind rose diagram 500 onto which some of the headings of FIG. 4 are superimposed. The blank wind rose diagram 500 of FIG. 5 is circular and divided into segments that represent different wind directions (e.g., North, South, East, West, andintermediate directions). The center of the wind rose diagram 500 represents the location for which the wind data is being analyzed. In relation with FIG. 4, the wind rose diagram 500 visually represents the wind patterns over a year. Specifically, FIG. 5 includes the PWD 308 represented as vector 501, where the PWD 308 is approximately 150° and corresponds to a southeast-by-south heading. FIG. 5 also includes the vector 503 representing the second peak 404 of FIG. 4, where the vector 503 is approximately 180° offset from, and opposite to, the vector 501.

[0188] In view of the preceding, the present disclosure relates to a DAC facility 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 in which the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C can be sited and arranged in the DAC facility 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 to increase their exposure to air that has the highest concentration of CO2 in locations where the gassorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C are also generating CCh-lean plumes 305 and operating in the presence of a PWD 308.

[0189] One such DAC facility 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 is provided in reference to FIG. 6, where the DAC facility 600, 600 A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 has multiple contactor walls 606, 608 arranged on a plot of land 602. Each contactor wall 606, 608 has multiple gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C. Each gas-sorbent contactor 100,IOOA, 100B, 100C can be similar to the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C of FIGS. 1 to 2C. Thus, the description, features, streams, and functionality of the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C provided in relation to FIGS. 1 to 2C apply mutatis mutandis to the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C of FIG. 6. In another implementation, one or more gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100 A, 100B, 100C of the DAC facility 600, 600 A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 is different from the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C of FIGS. 1 to 2C, for example, by using a solid sorbent. The gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100 A,IOOB, 100C of FIG. 6 are identical to one another. In other implementations, the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C of the DAC facility 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 can be different from each other in any possible configuration, such as different gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100 A, 100B, 100C within a single contactor wall 606, 608, or different gassorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C between the contactor walls 606, 608. Each contactor wall 606, 608 can be similar to the contactor wall 302 of FIG. 3. Thus, the description, features, streams, and functionality of the contactor wall 302 provided in relation to FIG. 3 apply mutatis mutandis to the contactor walls 606, 608 of FIG. 6.

[0190] In some implementations, the DAC facility 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 includes multiple gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C arranged adjacent each otherto form each contactor wall 606, 608. By “adjacent” each other, it is meant that the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100 A, 100B, 100C are positioned next to one another so that they are arranged to collectively form each one of the contactor walls 606, 608, which can be continuous or discontinuous. For example, and referring to FIG. 6, some gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C are abutted directly adjacent each other and permit no spacing therebetween, whereas other gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100 A, 100B, 100C are spaced apart from an adjacent gas-sorbent contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C by gaps 610 or breaks in the contactor walls 606, 608, such that the contactor walls 606, 608 are discontinuous. The gaps 610 permit material, personnel, and vehicles to cross from one side of the contactor wall 606, 608 to the other, which can be helpful in implementations where each contactor wall 606, 608 is very long because it has dozens or even hundreds of gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C.

[0191] In other implementations (see, for example, FIG. 3), all the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C are abutted directly adjacent each other and permit no spacing therebetween, such that the contactor wall 302 of FIG. 3 is continuous. In implementations where the gas-liquid contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C are abutted directly adjacent each other, and referring to FIG. 3, they can be abutted along a dividing wall 125 which fluidly separates components of one gas-liquid contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C from an adjacent gas-liquid contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C. The dividing wall 125 helps to ensure that the CCh-laden air 101 flowing through the air inlet 1031 of a gas-liquid contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C flows through the packing section(s) 106 of that gas-liquid contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C, rather than into an adjacent gas-liquid contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C. The dividing walls 125 extend in an upright or vertical direction, and along a direction parallel to the packing depth 106D. In example implementations, the vertical extent of one or more of the dividing walls 125 begins at, or below, the liquid level in the bottom basin 110. This configuration of the dividing walls 125 can help to minimise or eliminate air bypassing the dividing walls 125. The plenum 108 of each gas-liquid contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C is separated from the plenum 108 of an adjacent gas-liquid contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C by one or more dividing walls 125. At least some of the dividing walls 125 are internal to the contactor wall 302. Each dividing wall 125 forms a barrier to airflow between the adjacent plenums 108 delimited by that dividing wall 125, so as to prevent air from flowing between the plenums 108. The dividing walls 125 can allow for multiple gas-liquid contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C of the contactor wall 302 to remain operational if one of the gas-liquid contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C or its fan 121 is deactivated. The dividing walls 125 of FIG. 3 are internal to the contactor wall 302, and it will be appreciated that the contactor wall 302can have externally-applied dividing walls 125 at opposite longitudinal ends of the contactor wall 302. In some implementations, the dividing walls 125 include doors or closeable openings, to provide access to the interior 113 of adjacent gas-liquid contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C. In example implementations, and referring to FIG. 3, the contactor wall 302 includes multiple plenums 108, where each gas-liquid contactor 100, 100 A, 100B, 100C forming the contactor wall 302 has one plenum 108. Each plenum 108 is separated from an adjacent plenum 108 by one or more dividing walls 125. In the example implementation of FIG. 3, each dividing wall 125 shown is located between two fan stacks 107 and forms a barrier to airflow between two plenums 108 delimited by that dividing wall 125, where each plenum 108 is in fluid communication with a respective one of the fan stacks 107.

[0192] Each contactor wall 606, 608 can be referred to herein as an array, or a train, of gas- sorb ent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C. In some implementations, and referring to FIG.6, the DAC facility 600, 600 A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 includes multiple arrays or trains of gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C. In this disclosure, the terms “train”, “array” and “wall” can be used interchangeably. The DAC facility 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 is shown with at least two contactor walls 606, 608 for the purposes of illustration. The DAC facility 600, 600 A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 can alternatively have more than two contactor walls 606, 608 (see, for example, the DAC facility 600A, 600B of FIGS. 6A and 6B). The DAC facility 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 can have any number of contactor walls 606, 608 which can fit on the plot of land 602, provided that each contactor wall 606, 608 can operate to capture CO2 efficiently given the presence of the wall plume(s) 306 over the plot of land 602 from one or more other contactor walls 606, 608.

[0193] Referring to FIG. 6, a regeneration facility 612 is disposed at the center of the DAC facility 600 between the contactor walls 606, 608. In another implementation DAC facility 600A, and referring to FIG. 6A, the regeneration facility 612 is disposed downstream of the contactor walls 61 la-61 le on the plot of land 602 relative to the PWD 604. In another implementation DAC facility 600B, and referring to FIG. 6B, the regeneration facility 612 is disposed upstream of the contactor walls 61 la-61 le on the plot of land 602 relative to the PWD 604.

[0194] The gas- sorb ent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C operate to capture CO2 from the atmospheric air (i.e., the CCE-laden air 101), and can thus be referred to as, or including, a capture subsystem of the DAC facility 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400. The regeneration facility 612 functions to regenerate the CCE-rich sorbent (e.g., the CCh-laden capture solution 111) received from the capture subsystem to form a regenerated sorbent (e.g., the regeneratedC02capture solution 114) that is conveyed back to the capture subsystem. The regeneration facility 612 also functions to release CO2from the CCh-rich sorbent, to produce a CO2 product stream. The CO2 product stream can be used for different purposes. In some implementations, the CO2 product stream is delivered downhole and sequestered in a geological formation, subsurface reservoir, carbon sink, or the like. In some implementations, the CO2 product stream is used for enhanced oil recovery by injecting the recovered CO2 into one or more wellbores to enhance production of hydrocarbons from a reservoir. In some implementations, the CO2 product stream is fed to a downstream fuel synthesis system, which can include a syngas generation reactor. In some implementations, the CO2 product stream is provided as a substantially pure CO2 gas stream to be used for any suitable purpose or product. The CO2 product stream can be used for other purposes as well, or in any combination of the abovelisted purposes. In addition to capturing CO2 from the CCh-laden air 101, the DAC facility 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 can thus also produce CO2, and provide the produced CO2 as the CO2 product stream.

[0195] Referring to FIG. 6, the plot of land 602 of the DAC facility 600 has a prevailing wind direction (PWD) 604. During operation of the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C of the contactor walls 606, 608, each contactor wall 606, 606 generates its own wall plume 605. The contactor wall 606 generates a first wall plume 605 A, and the contactor wall 608 generates a second wall plume 605B. The PWD 604 disperses the first and second wall plumes 605A, 605B in a predictable direction, as shown in FIG. 6. As explained above, the plume dispersion characteristics of the wall plumes 605 over the plot of land 602 due to the PWD 604 help to identify the areas of the plot of land 602 which would be most suitable for locating and / or orienting the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C of the contactor walls 606, 608 in order to eliminate or reduce reingestion of the wall plumes 605 by the gassorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C. For example, in FIG. 6, the plume dispersion characteristics help to determine that the contactor wall 608 should not be located where the first wall plume 605A from the contactor wall 606 is dispersed by the PWD 604. The plumes 605A, 605B are shown for illustrative purposes only, in order to better comprehend the description of FIG. 6. It is appreciated that the plumes 605A, 605B can have a different shape, extent, and orientation based on the PWD 604.

[0196] The plume dispersion characteristics of the wall plumes 605 over the plot of land 602 due to the PWD 604 also help to identify how the gas-sorbent contactors 100 can be arranged and / or oriented to minimize or reduce reingestion of the wall plumes 605 by the gassorbent contactors 100. Referring to FIG. 6, one possibility for minimizing or reducingreingestion of the wall plumes 605 by the gas-sorbent contactors 100 is to orient the air inlet(s) 1031 of the gas-sorbent contactors 100 parallel to the PWD 604. Each air inlet 1031 can be defined by structural features such as structural members 115, slats, louvers, etc. which collectively frame and / or support the air inlet 1031 and allow it to define a plane. A plane 117 of each air inlet 1031 is substantially flat and has an upright orientation. Each plane 117 extends into or out of the page of FIG. 6. A line being normal to each plane 117 extends to the left or right of the page of FIG. 6. Each gas-sorbent contactor 100 of FIG. 6 is a cross-flow gas-sorbent contactor 100 having two air inlets 1031 (and thus two inlet planes 117), and a single air outlet 1030. The two planes 117 of each gas-sorbent contactor 100 are oriented parallel to each other. By parallel to the PWD 604, it is understood that the planes 117 have an orientation relative to an upright plane in which the PWD 604 lies, where that orientation is generally aligned with the upright plane within an acceptable deviation from true parallel due to engineering tolerances, and installation of the structural features of the air inlet 1031, for example. The air outlet 1030 of each gas-sorbent contactor 100 is positioned above the two air inlets 1031. The air outlet 1030 is at a height measured from a datum (e.g., the ground 601) that is greater than a height of the air inlets 1031 measured from the same datum. The air outlets 1030 define an outlet plane that is perpendicular to the planes 117 of the two air inlets 1031. An example of the plane 117 of the air inlet 1031 is also shown in FIG. 3, where the plane 117 extends upwardly relative to the ground 301. A line being normal to the plane 117 extends into or out of the page of FIG. 3.

[0197] Referring to FIG. 6, the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C are configured to eliminate or reduce potential plume reingestion. More particularly, the plane 117 of each air inlet 1031 is parallel to the PWD 604. During operation of the cross-flow gas-sorbent contactors 100 of FIG. 6, the rotating fans 212 operate to draw atmospheric air through the air inlets 1031. This atmospheric air drawn in through the air inlets 1031 then passes through the gas-sorbent interfaces 129 in the gas-sorbent contactors 100, enabling the capture of CO2 from the atmospheric air. This interaction produces a CCE-rich sorbent (for example, the CO2-laden capture solution 111 described above) and the CCh-lean plume 305, which is emitted from the fan stack 107 of each of the gas-sorbent contactors 100. By aligning the planes 117, and thus the air inlets 1031, parallel to the PWD 604, the natural wind flow assists in pushing the CO2- lean plumes 305 and the wall plumes 605 exiting the gas-sorbent contactors 100 away from the air inlets 1031 of the gas-sorbent contactors 100. This can eliminate or reduce the likelihood of CCh-lean air being reingested through one, both, or all of the air inlets 1031 of the gas-sorbentcontactors 100, particularly in comparison to air inlets which might be oriented transverse, or non-parallel, to the PWD 604.

[0198] The plume dispersion characteristics of the wall plumes 605 over the plot of land 602 due to the PWD 604 can also help to identify how each of the contactor walls 606, 608 can be arranged and / or oriented on the plot of land 602 to minimize or reduce reingestion of the wall plumes 605 by their gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C. Referring to FIG. 6, one possibility for minimizing or reducing reingestion of the wall plumes 605 by the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C of each contactor wall 606, 608 is to orient the contactor walls 606, 608 parallel to the PWD 604. Each contactor wall 606, 608 extends along its own wall axis 609a, 609b, which is an elongated line that defines an orientation of each contactor wall 606, 608. The gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C of each contactor wall 606, 608 are arranged adjacent to each other along the wall axis 609a, 609b of their respective contactor wall 606, 608. By parallel to the PWD 604, it is understood that each wall axis 609a, 609b has an orientation relative to an upright plane in which the PWD 604 lies, where that orientation is generally aligned with the upright plane within an acceptable deviation from true parallel due to engineering tolerances, and installation of components of the contactor wall 606, 608, for example. Each of the planes 117 is similarly parallel to the wall axes 609a, 609b. To better appreciate the orientation of each contactor wall 606, 608, FIG. 5 shows the orientation of each contactor wall 606, 608 with respect to the PWD 604, where each contactor wall 606, 608 is imposed on the wind rose diagram to be parallel to the PWD 308. Referring to FIG. 6, the wall plume 605 from one contactor wall 606, 608 can be ingested by one or more gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C of adjacent contactor walls 606, 608. By orienting the contactor walls 606, 608 parallel to the PWD 604, the natural wind flow assists in pushing the wall plumes 605 away from adjacent contactor walls 606, 608. This can eliminate or reduce the likelihood of CCE-lean air being reingested by the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C of an adjacent contactor wall 606, 608, particularly in comparison to contactor walls which might be oriented transverse, or non-parallel, to the PWD 604. Thus, by orienting the contactor walls 606, 608 parallel to the PWD 604, the potential of ingestion of a CCh-lean wall plume 605 A generated by one contactor wall 606 by one or more adjacent contactor walls 608 can be eliminated or reduced.

[0199] Orienting the contactor walls 606, 608 parallel to the PWD 604 can be further advantageous for plots of land 602 which receive wind along a direction or heading that is 180° offset from the PWD 604. This can be the case for plots of land along the Gulf Coast of Texas, for example. As explained above and shown in FIG. 5, for most days of the year, the wind isblowing either along the direction vector 501 of the PWD 308, or along the direction vector 503 which is offset 180° from the direction vector 501. For plots of land 602 where the wind blows along one direction or its 180° opposite for most of the days of the year, it can be beneficial to orient the contactor walls 606, 608 parallel to the PWD 604 to eliminate or reduce ingestion of CCh-lean wall plumes 605 because, for most of the year, the wind is blowing in a direction that will assist in pushing the wall plumes 605 away from adjacent contactor walls 606, 608.

[0200] The plume dispersion characteristics of the wall plumes 605 over the plot of land 602 due to the PWD 604 can also help to determine the length of each contactor wall 606, 608, and thus the number of gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C it can contain, before ingestion of CCh-lcan air unduly impacts the capture efficiency of one or more gassorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C of the contactor wall 606, 608. Referring to FIG. 3, the contactor wall 302 can have a wall length 310 selected to minimize reingestion of the CO2- lean wall plume 306 by one or more gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C of the contactor wall 302. The wall length 310 is defined primarily by the gas-sorbent contactors 100,IOOA, 100B, 100C composing the contactor wall 302. In some implementations, the wall length 310 is defined between the leading gas-sorbent contactor 100L of the contactor wall 302, and the trailing gas-sorbent contactor 100T. In some implementations, the wall length 310 is the distance from a point along the air inlet 1031 of the leading gas-sorbent contactor 100L (such as a middle or end point) to a corresponding point along the air inlet 1031 of the trailing gassorbent contactor 100T. In some implementations, the wall length 310 is the distance from a center of the air outlet 1030 of the leading gas-sorbent contactor 100L to a point along the air inlet 1031 of the trailing gas-sorbent contactor 100T. The wall length 310 is parallel to the PWD 308. The wall length 310 is parallel to the wall axis 309 of the contactor wall 320. The wall length 310 of the contactor wall 302 can also determine the number of gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C that compose the contactor wall 302. For example, the number of gassorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C in the contactor wall 302 can be approximately equal to the wall length 310 divided by the “length” of each gas-sorbent contactor 100, 100A,IOOB, 100C, where the “length” of each gas-sorbent contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C is its extent along the wall axis 309. In some implementations, the wall length 310 of the contactor wall 302 determines the maximum number of gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C that can compose the contactor wall 302.

[0201] In some implementations, the wall length 310 is a function of the plume dispersion characteristics of the CCh-lcan plume 305 emitted from the leading gas-sorbentcontactor 100L. Referring to FIG. 3, and as explained above, the C'Ch-lcan plume 305 generated by the leading gas-sorbent contactor 100L initially rises upwardly before being displaced by the PWD 308 and eventually settling toward the ground 301 as part of the wall plume 306. FIG. 3 shows a plume dispersion distance 315, which represents the distance between the leading gas-sorbent contactor 100L and the location at which some or all of its CCh-lean plume 305 might be reingested. The plume dispersion distance 315 can be defined in different ways. For example, one possible way to measure the plume dispersion distance 315 is shown in FIG. 3 as the distance between a leading or upwind edge of the leading gas-sorbent contactor 100L and the point projected along the ground 301 at which the wall plume 306 settles down to a height at which it can be ingested, such as the height of an air inlet 1031 from the ground 301. Another possible way to measure the plume dispersion distance 315 is as the distance between the outlet 1030 of the leading gas-sorbent contactor 100L and the point projected along the ground 301 at which the wall plume 306 settles down to a height at which it can be ingested. The wall length 310 is less than the plume dispersion distance 315. When the wall length 310 is less than the plume dispersion distance 315 (and measured from the same datum), the ability of the trailing gas-sorbent contactor 100T to ingest the CO2-lean 105 plume from the leading gas-sorbent contactor 100L is eliminated or reduced. When the wall length 310 is less than the plume dispersion distance 315, it can be possible for all the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C of the contactor wall 302 to avoid ingesting the wall plume 306, or only ingesting an acceptable minimum quantity thereof. Thus, the plume dispersion characteristics based on the PWD 308 allow for determining the wall length 310 for each contactor wall 302 to avoid or reduce ingestion of the wall plume 306 by the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C of the same contactor wall 302.

[0202] FIG. 6C shows another technique for determining the wall length 310 of each contactor wall 302, 606, 608 based on the plume dispersion characteristics. The graph 620 of FIG. 6C plots the propensity of the CCh-lean wall plume 306, 605 to extend over long distances without returning to the CO2 concentration of ambient air. The X-axis of the graph 620 indicates a distance in meters from the leading gas-sorbent contactor 100L of the contactor wall 302, 606, 608. The Y-axis shows the CO2 concentration at a height of the air inlet 1031 from the ground 301, defined as a percentage of the CO2 concentration of ambient air. Thus, a value of 100% on the Y-axis indicates that the CO2 concentration at the height of the air inlet 1031 is equal to the CO2 concentration of ambient air. The graph 620 includes multiple curves, where each curve represents a specific speed of the prevailing wind, and thus shows the CO2concentration at the air inlet 1031 as a function of the distance from the leading gas-sorbent contactor 100L for the specific prevailing wind speed.

[0203] The curve 622A represents a first windspeed A, the curve 622B represents a second windspeed B that is greater than the windspeed A by a delta, the curve 622C represents a third windspeed C that is greater than the windspeed B by the same delta, and the curve 622D represents a fourth windspeed D that is greater than the windspeed C by the same delta. Each of the curves 622A, 622B, 622C, 622D have a distance along the X-axis at which the CO2 concentration at the air inlet 1031 is approximately equal to the CO2 concentration of ambient air. For example, for the curve 622 A, this distance is about 550 m from the leading gas-sorbent contactor 100L, while in the curve 622C the distance is about 1,510 m from the leading gassorbent contactor 100L. This distance is representative of the plume dispersion characteristics of the wall plume 306, 605 explained above, where over this distance the wall plume 306, 605 is at an elevated height from the ground 301 due to the upward momentum imparted by the fans 212 of the gas-sorbent contactors 100. The curves 622A, 622B, 622C, 622D show that the distance at which the CO2 concentration is approximately equal to the CO2 concentration of ambient air increases proportionally with the wind speed. This is representative of the plume dispersion characteristics of the wall plume 306, 605 explained herein, where faster winds will push the wall plume 306, 605 further from the leading gas-sorbent contactor 100L before the wall plume 306, 605 begins to descend toward the ground. After some distance from the leading gas-sorbent contactor 100L, each curve 622A, 622B, 622C, 622D shows the CO2 concentration at the air inlet 1031 begins to decrease. For the curve 622B, for example, the CO2 concentration at the air inlet 1031 is approximately 85% of the CO2 concentration of ambient air at a distance of approximately 2,400 m from the leading gas-sorbent contactor 100L. This is also representative of the plume dispersion characteristics of the wall plume 306, 605 described above, where after some distance the PWD 308, 604 causes the wall plume 306, 605 to begin to, and then actually, settle around ground height, thereby reducing the CO2 concentration at the air inlet 1031. It will be appreciated that after a greater distance than those shown on the X- axis of FIG. 6C, each of the curves 622A, 622B, 622C, 622D has a positive slope and returns to the concentration of CO2 in the ambient air. The values provided in the graph 620 are provided for the purposes of illustration and can not reflect measured or modeled values for a DAC facility.

[0204] The graph 620 of FIG. 6C can be used to determine the wall length 310 of the contactor wall 302, 606, 608 based on the plume dispersion characteristics, to eliminate or reduce ingestion of the CCh-lcan plume 305 emitted from the leading gas-sorbent contactor100L by the trailing gas-sorbent contactor 100T. For example, the wall length 310 can be determined to be the distance along the X-axis of the graph 620 that represents an acceptable level of CO2 concentration loss. For example, if a 5% loss in CO2 concentration is acceptable (that is, the air inlets 1031 of the trailing gas-sorbent contactor 100T can ingest air which has 95% of the CO2 concentration of ambient air) and the windspeed is anticipated to be fluctuate around the windspeed of the curve 622B, then the contactor wall 302, 606, 608 can extend up to approximately 1,350 m from the leading gas-sorbent contactor 100L, as per the curve 622B. However, if no loss in CO2 concentration is acceptable (that is, the air inlets 1031 of the trailing gas-sorbent contactor 100T should ingest air which has the same CO2 concentration as ambient air) and the wind is anticipated to be relatively calm and fluctuate around the windspeed of the curve 622A, then the maximum wall length 310 of the contactor wall 302, 606, 608 should be approximately 750 meters from the leading gas-sorbent contactor 100L, to avoid any loss of CO2 concentration at the trailing gas-sorbent contactor 100T due to ingestion of the CCh-lcan plume 305 from the leading gas-sorbent contactor 100L, as per the curve 622A. Conversely, if it is desired for the DAC facility 600 to have one or more long contactor walls 302, 606, 608 to provide redundant, or back-up, gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C, then it can be acceptable to tolerate up to a 15% loss in CO2 concentration at the air inlets 1031 of the trailing gas-sorbent contactor 100T, at which point the contactor wall 302, 606, 608 can have a maximum wall length 310 of approximately 3,200 m for the comparatively high windspeeds of the curve 622D. The wall length 310 can thus be a compromise or trade-off aiming to balance a high CO2 capture efficiency for the contactor wall 302, 606, 608 with other priorities of the DAC facility 600. Thus, the graph 620 helps in assessing the acceptable level of CO2 concentration loss due to reingestion of the CCh-lcan plume 305, for determining a length of the contactor wall 302, 606, 608 by potentially tolerating a certain amount of reingestion. In the graph 620 of FIG. 6C, the plume dispersion distance 315 can be considered equivalent to the maximum wall length 310 and be represented in the graph 620 as the X-axis distance at which an acceptable level of CO2 concentration is still present in the air being ingested.

[0205] The plume dispersion characteristics of the wall plumes 306,605 over the plot of land 602 due to the PWD 308, 604 can also help to determine the distance separating each contactor wall 302, 606, 608 to eliminate or reduce ingestion of the CCh-lean air by one contactor wall 302, 606, 608 emitted by another contactor wall 302, 606, 608. Referring to FIG. 6, to eliminate or reduce ingestion of the CCh-lcan wall plumes 605 emitted by one contactor wall (for example, the wall plume 605A emitted by the contactor wall 606) by an adjacent contactor wall (for example, the contactor wall 608), the contactor walls 606, 608 arespaced apart on the plot of land 602 by a reingestion mitigation distance 616. The reingestion mitigation distance 616 can be defined between any two similar points of adjacent contactor walls 606, 608. For example, and referring to FIG. 6, the reingestion mitigation distance 616 is defined between facing air inlets 1031 of adjacent contactor walls 606, 608. Referring to FIG. 6, the reingestion mitigation distance 616 has an orientation transverse to the PWD 604. The reingestion mitigation distance 616 is measured along a direction that is parallel to a plane, where the plane is perpendicular to the wall axis 609a, 609b.

[0206] One possible technique for determining the reingestion mitigation distance 616 based on the plume dispersion characteristics of the plot of land 602 with the PWD 604 is to determine a lateral plume dispersion distance 615. The lateral plume dispersion distance 615 is measured in a direction perpendicular to the PWD 604. In some implementations, and referring to FIG. 6, the lateral plume dispersion distance 615 is the distance, measured perpendicular to the PWD 604, from the trailing gas-sorbent contactor 100T to the furthest lateral extent 605F of the wall plume 605 A from the trailing gas- sorbent contactor 100T, when the wall plume 605 A has settled along the ground 301 (or at height from the ground 301 corresponding to that of the air inlets 1031). When the lateral plume dispersion distance 615 is less than the reingestion mitigation distance 616 (and measured from the same datum), the ability of the contactor wall 608 to ingest the CCh-lcan wall plume 605A from the adjacent contactor wall 606 is eliminated or reduced. When the lateral plume dispersion distance 615 is less than the reingestion mitigation distance 616, it can be possible for all the contactor walls 606, 608 to avoid ingesting the wall plumes 605, or only ingesting an acceptable minimum quantity thereof. Thus, the plume dispersion characteristics resulting from the PWD 604 allow for determining the distance separating each contactor wall 606, 608 to eliminate or reduce ingestion of CCh-lean air generated by one of the contactor walls 606, 608.

[0207] Another possible technique for determining the reingestion mitigation distance 616 based on the plume dispersion characteristics of the plot of land 602 with the PWD 604 is to factor for an anticipated maximum variation in wind direction. While the wind can blow along the PWD 604 on a large number of days in a reference period (e.g., a year), the wind direction can shift or can also have other headings on those same days. The reingestion mitigation distance 616 between adjacent contactor walls 606, 608 can be determined based on accounting for some amount of these shifts in wind direction.

[0208] Site-specific wind studies using historical meteorological data can provide insights into the range of variations in wind direction. These studies can often involve statistical analysis of wind patterns over different seasons and times of the day. Using numericaltechniques such as computational fluid dynamics (CFD), different wind angles and wind velocities can be simulated, to determine the reingestion mitigation distance 616. Computational models can be used to further simulate various wind scenarios and how a structure of the DAC facility 600 responds.

[0209] FIGS. 7A-7E show the distribution of wall plumes 605 for anticipated variations in the PWD 604 at a DAC facility (e.g., the DAC facility 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 of FIGS. 6-6B and 9-12). Each figure depicts the wall plumes 605 formed by the contactor walls 702, 704 resulting from variations in the PWD 604, where the variations increase from 0° in FIG. 7A to 60° in FIG. 7E. Specifically, FIGS. 7A-7E include two contactor walls 702, 704 and the PWD 604, which is represented as vector 706. The wall plume 605 whose ingestion is to be eliminated or reduced is the wall plume 605 emitted from the contactor wall 704. Each contactor wall 702, 704 can be similar to the contactor wall 302, 606, 608 of FIGS. 3 and 6. Thus, the description, features, streams, and functionality of the contactor wall 302, 606, 608 provided in relation to FIGS. 3 and 6 apply mutatis mutandis to the contactor walls 702, 704 of FIGS. 7A to 7E.

[0210] The table of FIG. 7F shows the amount of the contactor wall 702 (measured in percentage of the wall length 310) that is affected by the wall plume 605 emitted from the contactor wall 704, depending on the variation in the PWD 604 and the distance between the contactor walls 702, 704. Thus FIG. 7F shows a table depicting how variations in wind direction affect the required lateral spacing (reingestion mitigation distance 616) between the contactor walls 702, 704 to minimize the effects of plume ingestion. FIG. 7F complements FIGS. 7A-7E by quantifying the percentage of the adjacent contactor wall 702 affected by the wall plume 605 at different lateral spacings and wind direction variabilities. The percent of the wall length 310 is a proxy, or representation, of the number of gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C of the contactor wall 702 that might ingest the wall plume 305. For example, for a variation in the PWD 604 of 10°, approximately 80% of the wall length 310 of the contactor wall 702 is affected by the wall plume 605 emitted from the contactor wall 704 when the distance between the contactor walls 702, 704 is 25 m. Looking across the corresponding row in the table to find an acceptable percentage of the wall length 310 of the contactor wall 702 that would be affected by the wall plume 605 reveals that, at 150 meters of lateral spacing between the contactor walls 702, 704, only 5% of the wall length 310 of the contactor wall 702 is affected by the wall plume 605, which can be an acceptable spacing when siting the contactor walls 702, 704. The table of FIG. 7F thus helps to show the impact on plume ingestion and thusappropriate reingestion mitigation distances 616 based on the plume dispersion characteristics due to variations in the PWD 604.

[0211] FIG. 7A shows a scenario with 0° variability in the vector 706, such that PWD 604 does not substantially shift during the reference period and instead blows along a constant direction. In this scenario, the reingestion mitigation distance 616 can remain small because the table of FIG. 7F shows that it is unlikely that the contactor wall 702 will be affected by the wall plume 605 emitted from the contactor wall 704. In this scenario, it can be possible to shorten the distance between the contactor walls 702, 704, such that the plot of land 602 can be optimized to fit many contactor walls 702, 704 closely positioned adjacent to each other.

[0212] FIG. 7B shows a scenario with 10° variability, such that PWD 604 can shift during the reference period by a maximum of 10°, as shown by the shifted vector 706 in FIG. 7B. In this scenario, the reingestion mitigation distance 616 will need to consider what percentage of the wall length 310 of the contactor wall 702 can tolerate reingestion of the wall plume 605 emitted from the contactor wall 704. For example, if the contactor wall 702 can tolerate a maximum of 5% of its wall length 310 ingesting the wall plume 605 emitted from the contactor wall 704, then the table of FIG. 7F shows that the reingestion mitigation distance 616 can be at least 150 m. If the contactor wall 702 can tolerate none of its wall length 310 ingesting the wall plume 605 emitted from the contactor wall 704, then the reingestion mitigation distance 616 can be at least 200 m. Thus, with a variability of up to 10° in the PWD 604, FIG. 7B indicates that the wall plume 605 can not significantly impact the CO2 capture efficiency of the contactor wall 704 unless the contactor walls 702, 704 are very closely spaced together. This allows for the contactor walls 702, 704 to be relatively close together due to the relative stability in the PWD 604.

[0213] FIG. 7C shows a scenario with 15° variability, such that PWD 604 can shift during the reference period by a maximum of 15°, as shown by the shifted vector 706 in FIG. 7C. In this scenario, the reingestion mitigation distance 616 will need to consider what percentage of the wall length 310 of the contactor wall 702 can tolerate reingestion of the wall plume 605 emitted from the contactor wall 704. For example, if the contactor wall 702 can tolerate a maximum of 5% of its wall length 310 ingesting the wall plume 605 emitted from the contactor wall 704, then the table of FIG. 7F shows that the reingestion mitigation distance 616 can be at least approximately 225 m. With a variability of up to 15° in the PWD 604, FIG. 7C indicates that the wall plume 605 can not significantly impact the CO2 capture efficiency of the contactor wall 704 unless the contactor walls 702, 704 are moderately closely spacedtogether. This allows for the contactor walls 702, 704 to be moderately close together due to the relative stability in the PWD 604 to minimize the risk of plume ingestion by the contactor wall 702, although more distance is required compared to the scenario in FIG. 7B.

[0214] FIG. 7D shows a scenario with 30° variability, such that PWD 604 can shift during the reference period by a maximum of 30°, as shown by the shifted vector 706 in FIG. 7D. In this scenario, the reingestion mitigation distance 616 will need to consider what percentage of the wall length 310 of the contactor wall 702 can tolerate reingestion of the wall plume 605 emitted from the contactor wall 704. For example, with such a large variability in the PWD 604, the table of FIG. 7F suggests that the contactor wall 702 can need to tolerate a significant percentage of its wall length 310 (e.g., a minimum of 50% of the wall length 310) ingesting the wall plume 605 emitted from the contactor wall 704 in order to fit a suitable number of contactor walls 702, 704 on the plot of land 602. With a variability of up to 30° in the PWD 604, FIG. 7D indicates that the wall plume 605 will impact the CO2 capture efficiency of the contactor wall 704, even for large reingestion mitigation distances 616. As a result, it can be necessary to space the contactors walls 702, 704 very large distances apart to reduce the effect of plume ingestion by the contactor wall 702, and / or to compensate for the plume ingestion that will be experienced by many of the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C of the contactor wall 702.

[0215] Finally, FIG. 7E shows that no reasonable reingestion mitigation distance 616 can be sufficient to overcome the effects of plume ingestion on the contactor wall 702 when there is a very large variability in the PWD 604. FIG. 7E shows a scenario with 60° variability, such that PWD 604 can shift during the reference period by a maximum of 60°, as shown by the shifted vector 706 in FIG. 7E. In this scenario, the table in FIG. 7F suggests that no reingestion mitigation distance 616 will be sufficient to provide a suitable percentage of the wall length 310 of the contactor wall 702 that is not ingesting the wall plume 605 emitted from the contactor wall 704. The table in FIG. 7F suggests that even a reingestion mitigation distance 616 of 500 m (half a kilometer) can be insufficient to avoid more than 50% of the contactor wall 702 ingesting the wall plume 605. In this scenario, ingestion of a significant amount of the wall plume 605 by the adjacent contactor wall 702 can be unavoidable. This scenario is still useful, however, because it serves as a constraint in site selection, by allowing an installer or builder of a DAC facility 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 to consider avoiding plots of land 602 with such a high variability in the PWD 604.

[0216] In view of the present disclosure, it will be appreciated that knowing and considering the plume dispersion characteristics of CCh-lcan volumes of air (either the CO2-lean plume 305 and / or the wall plume 306,605) based on the PWD 308, 604 can help the gassorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C of a DAC facility 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 operate with the highest CO2 capture efficiency by ingesting air which has the highest concentration of CO2. For DAC facilities 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 with large numbers of gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C which function to generate significant volumes of CCh-lcan air, knowing and considering the plume dispersion characteristics resulting from the PWD 308, 604 help to determine design, installation and siting considerations, such as the length of individual contactor walls 302, 606, 608, 702, 704 and the distance they are spaced apart. This helps to optimize, and potentially maximize, the number of gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C on the plot of land 602, and thus also potentially maximize the CO2 capture capacity of the DAC facility 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400. Knowing and considering the plume dispersion characteristics resulting from the PWD 308, 604 provide a site selection criterion which, along with other criteria, can be used to select suitable sites for large-scale DAC facilities 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 having many gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C. The PWD 308, 604 can be one factor amongst many others, that can be considered in the design and siting of DAC facilities 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400.

[0217] Knowing and considering the plume dispersion characteristics resulting from the PWD 308, 604 can also assist in operating the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C at the highest CO2 capture efficiency. For example, if the plume dispersion characteristics suggest that the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C of a specific portion of the contactor wall 302, 606, 608, 702, 704 will be exposed to air with a lower concentration of CO2, then it can be possible to divert or ensure that the “freshest” sorbent (i.e. the sorbent with the lowest absorbed / adsorbed CO2) is present in the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C outside this IOW-CO2 zone. In implementations where the sorbent is the CO2 capture solution 114, the “leanest” CO2 capture solution 114 (i.e. the solution with the lowest absorbed CO2) can be pumped to the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C furthest away from this IOW-CO2 zone, or to the contactor walls 302, 606, 608, 702, 704 furthest away from this IOW-CO2 zone, to maximize the ability of the CO2 capture solution 114 to absorb CO2 by trying to capture the highest-concentration CO2 air with the leanest CO2 capture solution 114. Alternatively, in implementations where the sorbent is the CO2 capture solution 114, the leanest CO2 capture solution 114 can be pumped to the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C closest to, or within, this IOW-CO2 zone, or to the contactor walls 302, 606, 608, 702, 704 closest to, or within, this IOW-CO2 zone, so that the leanest capture solution reacts with thelower CO2 concentration air as this air is more challenging from a capture perspective and would benefit from a stronger capture solution.

[0218] The disclosure herein refers to the directional component of the PWD 308, 604 and its impact on plume dispersion characteristics. In some implementations, the speed of the prevailing wind, in addition to its directional component, can also impact the plume dispersion characteristics, including the extent of the plume, the distance at which it descends toward the ground 301, and the rate at which its concentration of CO2 returns to ambient levels, as shown for example in FIG. 6C. Other factors can also impact the plume dispersion characteristics, in addition to, or separate from, the factors listed above. For example, the extent of the wall plume 306, 605, the distance at which it descends toward the ground 301, and the rate at which its concentration of CO2 returns to ambient levels can be impacted by the number of gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C which are exhausting the CCh-lcan plume 305 which form the wall plume 306, 605. For instance, the wall plume 306, 605 formed from the collective CO2-lean plumes 305 of three gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C of a contactor wall 302, 606, 608, 702, 704 can be less persistent, and can be dispersed less far, than the wall plume 306, 605 formed from the collective CCh-lean plumes 305 of a contactor wall 302, 606, 608, 702, 704 with twenty gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C.

[0219] In some implementations, different techniques can be employed for minimizing plume reingestion in addition to, or separate from, the those described above. Some of these techniques are described in conjunction with FIG. 8.

[0220] FIG. 8 shows example plume distributions 800 for CCh-lean gas 105 discharged from different designs of fan 212 and fan stack 107 according to the present disclosure. For example, the fan stack 107 can have different dimensions (height and diameter) compared to conventional cooling tower fan stack designs, so that the CCh-lcan gas 105 disperses substantially upwards and into the ambient environment rather than flowing downwards to the intake of the gas-sorbent contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C. A taller stack 107 can discharge the CCh-lcan gas 105 at a point that is high enough to substantially circumvent a recirculation zone of the gas-sorbent contactor 100. The recirculation zone includes spaces where the CCh-lean gas 105 is likely to be re-ingested in the intake of the gassorbent contactor 100 (e.g., near the intake or the open section sides of the housing). CO2 concentration at the inlet 1031 of the gas-sorbent contactor 100 can indicate the extent to which the CCh-lean gas 105 is re-ingested. For example, with current atmospheric CO2 concentrations of approximately 410 ppm to 420 ppm, a gas-sorbent contactor with some plume re-ingestion can have an inlet CO2 concentration that ranges from 385 ppm to 420 ppm.An inlet CO2 concentration that is lower than this range can indicate that the CCh-lean gas 105 has not sufficiently circumvented the recirculation zone. In some cases, rather than designing the fan 212 and fan stack 107 to push the plume beyond the recirculation zone (such designs can be associated with increased capital or operational expenses), it can be more cost effective to employ one or more additional gas-sorbent contactors 100 to help compensate for the reduced CO2 capture. Such cost optimization considerations are typically a factor in determining a suitable reingestion mitigation strategy. In some aspects, the fan stack 107 can be at least 4 times taller than the standard industry height of a cooling tower fan stack to counter plume reingestion. In some implementations, the fan stack 107 height can range from 10 feet to 30 feet. In some implementations, the fan stack 107 height can be sized between 10 feet to 20 feet, or 20 feet to 30 feet. Reference is made to US patent application having publication number US 2022 / 0193606 Al, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.

[0221] Another approach to reduce plume re-ingestion includes increasing an exhaust velocity of CCh-lean gas 105 from the fan 212, so that the plume of CCh-lean gas 105 has an exhaust velocity that is high enough to at least partially circumvent the recirculation zone. In some implementations, the fan 212 and fan stack 107 height can be configured to discharge CCh-lean gas 105 at an area average exhaust velocity ranging from 1 m / s to 20 m / s. In some implementations, increased fan velocity can be achieved by reducing the cross-sectional area of the fan stack 107 (e.g., at the outlet of the fan stack 107). For example, the exhaust velocity of the CCh-lean gas 105 can be doubled by reducing cross-sectional area of the fan stack 107 (e.g., at the outlet 1030) by half. In some implementations, the fan 212 diameter can be sized between 10 feet to 45 feet. In some cases, aspects of the fan 212 can be configured to increase the exhaust velocity of the CO2-lean gas 105. The fan 212 can include larger fan motors to increase fan speed, different-diameter hubs, additional impeller blades, and / or a different design for fan blades pitch in comparison to conventional fan designs.

[0222] Other techniques for minimizing plume reingestion in DAC facilities 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 with large numbers of gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C are also possible, irrespective of whether the DAC facility 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 is operating in the presence of the PWD 308, 604. For example, if permitted by the plot of land 602, the contactor walls 302, 606, 608, 702, 704 could be spaced sufficiently far away from each other to eliminate or reduce plume reingestion. This can allow for selecting for plots of land 602 which are well suited for DAC facilities 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 for many reasons, even if they do not have a PWD 308, 604. Another technique for minimizingplume reingestion in DAC facilities 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 operating without a PWD 308, 604 can include changing the orientation or configuration of components of the gassorbent contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C. For example, the air inlet 1031 can be positioned to ingest the CO2-laden air 101 from higher above the ground 301 where the CO2-laden air 101 can be less exposed to a CO2-lean plume.

[0223] Referring to FIG. 9, the gas- sorbent contactors 100, 100 A, 100B, 100C, alone or as part of the contactor walls 302, 606, 608, 61 la-61 le disclosed herein, are part of a DAC facility 1200 for capturing CO2 directly from atmospheric air. In example implementations of the DAC facility 1200, one or multiple gas-liquid contactor(s) 100, 100A, 100B, 100C absorb some of the CCh from the CCh-laden air 101 using the CO2 capture solution 114 to form the CCh-laden capture solution 111.

[0224] Referring to FIG. 9, the CO2 capture solution 114 needs to be regenerated from the CCh-laden capture solution 111, which can be carried out in a regeneration facility 1230 of the DAC facility 1200. The regeneration facility 1230 functions to process the CCh-laden capture solution 111 (e.g., spent capture solution) to form regenerated CO2 capture solution 114 that is flowed back to the gas-liquid contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C, and also recover and / or concentrate the CO2 content laden in the CCh-laden capture solution 111 to form a concentrated carbon stream, for example, CO, a CO2 product stream, or other carbon products. The regeneration facility 1230 can be in fluid communication with the bottom basins 110 of the gas-liquid contactor(s) 100, 100 A, 100B, 100C to receive the CO2-laden capture solution 111. The regeneration facility 1230 can be in fluid communication with the top basins 104 of the gas-liquid contactor(s) 100, 100 A, 100B, 100C to flow thereto the regenerated CO2 capture solution 114. Multiple regeneration facilities 1230 are possible and within the scope of the present disclosure, and some of these are now described in greater detail.

[0225] FIG. 10 shows one possible implementation of the regeneration facility 1230 of the DAC facility 1200. Referring to FIG. 10, the CCh-laden capture solution 111 flows from the gas-liquid contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C to the regeneration facility 1230. The regeneration facility 1230 includes a pellet reactor 1210. A slurry of calcium hydroxide 1224 is injected into the pellet reactor 1210. A reaction between the CCh-laden capture solution 111 and the calcium hydroxide 1224 occurs in the pellet reactor 1210. Ca2+reacts with CC2' in the pellet reactor 1210 to form calcium carbonate solids and an aqueous alkaline solution as the CO2 capture solution 114 (such as hydroxide), thereby regenerating the CO2 capture solution 114. For example, potassium carbonate in the CCh-laden capture solution 111 can react withcalcium hydroxide to form calcium carbonate and potassium hydroxide, thereby regenerating the CO2 capture solution 114 that includes potassium hydroxide.

[0226] The reaction of the CCh-laden capture solution 111 with Ca(OH)2 causes precipitation of calcium carbonate (CaCCh) onto calcium carbonate particles in the pellet reactor 1210. Further processing of the calcium carbonate solids including, but not limited to, filtering, dewatering or drying, can occur prior to sending the calcium carbonate solids to other process units of the regeneration facility 1230, such as a calciner 1216. A stream 1214 of calcium carbonate solids is transported from the pellet reactor 1210 to the calciner 1216. The calciner 1216 calcines the calcium carbonate of the stream 1214 from the pellet reactor 1210 to produce an exhaust gas stream 1218 that includes gaseous CO2 and a stream of calcium oxide (CaO) 1220, possibly by oxy-combustion of a fuel source in the calciner 1216. The exhaust gas stream 1218 is processed to produce a CO2 product stream for sequestration or other uses, thereby removing some of the CChfrom the CCh-laden air 101 processed in the gasliquid contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C. The exhaust gas stream 1218, either directly or after processing, can be provided as the CO2 product stream described herein for use as desired, or for export. The stream of calcium oxide (CaO) 1220 is slaked with water in a slaker 1222 of the regeneration facility 1230 to produce the slurry of calcium hydroxide 1224 that is provided to the pellet reactor 1210.

[0227] The stream 1214 of calcium carbonate solids of the DAC facility 1200 that is calcined in the calciner 1216 can be produced according to other techniques for capturing CO2 from the CCh-laden air 101. In one example of such other techniques, the gas-liquid contactor 100, 100 A, 100B, 100C of the DAC facility 1200 use a liquid sorbent. A carbonate-forming reactor which receives the CCh-laden capture solution 111 includes one or more reactors similar to those used in the Kraft pulping process to form calcium carbonate solids. In another example of such other techniques for producing calcium carbonate solids in the DAC facility 1200, the DAC facility 1200 is free of a causticization process, and the gas-liquid contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C use a sorbent such as a calcium hydroxide slurry and contacts it with air to form the stream 1214 of calcium carbonate solids which are then calcined.

[0228] In other implementations, the regeneration facility 1230 is free of a calciner and does not produce calcium carbonate solids. In one example of such an alternative regeneration facility 1230, some or all of the CCh-laden capture solution 111 can flow to a thermal stripping column that employs steam to desorb CO2 from the CCh-laden capture solution 111, thereby forming the CO2 product stream and the regenerated CO2 capture solution 114 (see, for example, FIG. 11). In another example of such an alternative regeneration facility 1230, someor all of the CCh-laden capture solution 111 can flow to an electrochemical system that includes a cell stack, which can include a set of one or more membranes, and a set of electrodes (see, for example, FIG. 12). The electrochemical system can regenerate the CO2 capture solution 114 from the CCh-laden capture solution 111 by applying an electric potential to an electrolyte including carbon from the CCh-laden capture solution 111. The difference in electric potential causes ion exchange, thereby forming the CO2 product stream and the regenerated CO2 capture solution 114.

[0229] Referring to FIG. 11, the regeneration facility 1330 of the DAC facility 1300 functions to regenerate an amine-including CO2 capture solution 114. In implementations where the CO2 capture solution 114 includes an amine capture species, the CO2 in the CCh- laden air 101 reacts with the amine capture species to form the CCh-laden capture solution 111 including solid precipitates, an example of which is carbamate. Non-limiting examples of the amine capture species of the CCh-capture solution 114 include, furan-bis(iminoguanidine) (FuBIG), isophorone diamine (IPDA), a hindered amine group having alkanolamine and alcoholic hydroxyl can be used. Examples of the alkanolamine include monoethanolamine (MEA), diethanolamine, triethanolamine, methyldiethanolamine, diisopropanolamine, and diglycolamine. Examples of the hindered amine having alcoholic hydroxyl include 2-amino-2- m ethyl- 1 -propanol (AMP), 2-(ethylamino)-ethanol (EAE), and 2-(methylamino)-ethanol (MAE).

[0230] The regeneration facility 1330 includes at least a concentrator 1305, a heat exchanger 1309, and a regeneration reactor 1307. The CCh-laden capture solution 111 can include solids (e.g., carbamate solids) and be in the form of a slurry. The slurry is flowed to the concentrator 1305, which functions to increase the concentration of the solids by separating solids from liquids. A solids slurry stream 1321 is generated by the concentrator 1305. The solids slurry stream 1321 includes a higher concentration of solids than the concentration of solids in the CCh-laden capture solution 111. At least some of the liquid separated from the CCh-laden capture solution 111 by the concentrator 1305 forms a separated liquid stream 1323, which can include unreacted CO2 capture solution 114. The separated liquid stream 1323 is flowed back to any suitable component or unit of the gas-liquid contactor(s) 100, 100 A, 100B, 100C.

[0231] The solids slurry stream 1321 flows to the heat exchanger 1309, where thermal energy from a regenerated, CCh-lean capture solution 1311 is transferred to the solids slurry stream 1321, as described below. The heated solids slurry stream 1321 flows from the heat exchanger 1309 to the regeneration reactor 1307. The heat exchanger 1309 can be considereda preheat heat exchanger that heat integrates a concentrated slurry (e.g., the solids slurry stream 1321) with a higher temperature regenerated capture solution (e.g., the CCh-lean capture solution 1311). In example implementations, the solids in the heated solids slurry stream 1321 are at least partially regenerated in the heat exchanger 1309 or downstream thereof, releasing CO2, prior to entering the regeneration reactor 1307.

[0232] In example alternative implementations, the heat exchanger 1309 is upstream of the concentrator 1305, relative to a flow direction of the CCh-laden capture solution 111 from the gas-liquid contactor(s) 100, 100A, 100B, 100C to the concentrator 1305. In such implementations, the heat exchanger 1309 functions to transfer thermal energy from the CO2- lean capture solution 1311 to the CCh-laden capture solution 111 before it undergoes solidliquid separation in the concentrator 1305. In transferring thermal energy to streams entering the regeneration reactor 1307, the heat exchanger 1309 helps to reduce the duty of the regeneration reactor 1307 in implementations where the regeneration reactor 1307 uses heat to regenerate the CCh-laden capture solution 111. In other implementations, the regeneration facility 1330 does not have a heat exchanger.

[0233] In implementations where the regeneration reactor 1307 is, or includes, a packed column, the heated solids slurry stream 1321 flows through packing 1303 within the regeneration reactor 1307. A regeneration heater 1306 supplies a source of heat, such as a stream of heated gas 1317 (e.g., steam), which contacts the heated solids slurry stream 1321 flowing along the packing 1303. In example implementations, the regeneration reactor 1307 includes one or more nozzles for flowing the heated solids slurry stream 1321 onto the packing 1303. In alternate example implementations, the regeneration reactor 1307 includes a column with trays instead of, or in addition to, the packing column. In example implementations, the packing 1303 is non-structured (e.g., random packing).

[0234] By contacting the heated solids slurry stream 1321 and its carbamate solids with the stream of heated gas 1317, the CCh-lean capture solution 1311 (e.g., regenerated CO2 capture solution 114) is generated and a CO2 gas 1319 is desorbed. The CCh-lean capture solution 1311 collects at the bottom of the regeneration reactor 1307. The CCh-lean capture solution 1311 is at a relatively high temperature and is flowed to the heat exchanger 1309 to transfer at least some of its thermal energy to the solids slurry stream 1321 flowing from the concentrator 1305, as described above. In implementations where the regeneration facility 1330 does not have a heat exchanger, the CCh-lean capture solution 1311 is flowed directly to one or more components of the gas-liquid contactor(s) 100, 100A, 100B, 100C and reused in the gas-liquid contactor(s) 100, 100 A, 100B, 100C for CO2 capture.

[0235] The CO2 gas 1319 is released from the regeneration reactor 1307 along with water vapor 1318 via a gas discharging line. The mixed gas stream (CO2 gas 1319 and water vapor 1318) flow from the regeneration reactor 1307 to a condenser 1308. Depending on the capture species of the CO2 capture solution 114, the mixed gas stream can also include volatile amines / organics. The condenser 1308 condenses the water vapor 1318 (and the volatile amines / organics), forms a water stream 1320 (which can have condensable amines / organics), and separates the CO2 gas 1319 from the water stream 1320. The CO2 gas 1319 is released from the condenser 1308 as the CO2 product stream 1325. The CO2 product stream 1325 can be treated or processed as desired, such as by being compressed. The compressed CO2 product stream 1325, either directly or after processing, can be provided for use as desired, or for export. In example implementations, the condensed water stream 1320 flows from the condenser 1308 to the regeneration heater 1306 to be used to generate the stream of heated gas 1317 in the regeneration reactor 1307. In example implementations, the condensed water stream 1320 flows directly to the heat exchanger 1309.

[0236] In example implementations where the DAC facility 1300 employs a CO2 capture solution 114 comprising aqueous amino acid salt solutions, the regeneration facility 1330 of FIG. 11 can be configured for regenerating a CCh-laden capture solution 111 comprising carbon-containing compounds in solution (e.g., carbamates which partially hydrolyse into bicarbonate anions) free or substantially free of precipitated compounds. In such implementations, the regeneration facility 1330 includes componentry to remove CO2 from the carbon dioxide-rich CCh-laden capture solution 111 by any suitable method, such as desorption. Desorption can be achieved by heating the solution to temperatures between 80°C and 200°C, such as in the regeneration reactor 1307 which can use the stream of heated gas 1317 as the stripping gas, where the stream of heated gas 1317 is produced in the regeneration heater 1306. The regeneration reactor 1307 can be, or include, a desorption unit. The regeneration reactor 1307 can operate at sub-atmospheric pressure to lower the temperature of the regeneration process. The regeneration reactor 1307 can include one or more flash units in which the CCh-laden capture solution I l l is heated and injected into a vessel at lower pressure, causing the water vapor 1318 and the CO2 gas 1319 to be released. Techniques for removing carbon dioxide other than the temperature-swing process described above include, but are not limited to: pressure reduction, reducing the solution pH, and carbonate crystallisation (e.g., by addition of bis-iminoguanidines or other material which forms insoluble carbonates). In each case, the CO2 removal regenerates the CO2 capture solution 114 (i.e., restores the amino acid) in the absorbent solution.

[0237] Other configurations for the regeneration reactor 1307 are contemplated by the present disclosure. For example, in some configurations, the regeneration reactor 1307 does not include a packed column and is thus free of packing. In such a configuration, the regeneration reactor 1307 can be, or can include, any one of the following non-limiting examples of reaction vessels: a tubular reactor, a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) in which reagents, reactants, and solvents flow into the reactor while the products of the reaction concurrently exit the vessel, or a fluidized-bed reactor.

[0238] In implementations where the regeneration reactor 1307 is, or includes, a tubular reactor, the tubular reactor can have an internal heating device (e.g., an electric heating element) and / or an external heating device (e.g., a heating jacket), inlet and outlet ports, and a phase separator or other suitable outlet to permit CO2 to degas from the tubular reactor. In implementations where the regeneration reactor 1307 is, or includes, a CSTR, the CSTR can have an internal heating device (e.g., an electric heating element) and / or an external heating device (e.g., a heating jacket), a mixing element (such as a rotor and / or baffles), inlet and outlet ports, and a phase separator or other suitable outlet to permit CO2 to degas from the CSTR.

[0239] In implementations where the regeneration reactor 1307 is, or includes, a fluidized-bed reactor, the solids slurry stream 1321 can enter the fluidized-bed reactor from a top of the reactor, and a heating medium (e.g., steam) can be heated externally and flowed to the fluidized-bed reactor to fluidize the bed of solids and transfer heat thereto. The fluidized- bed reactor can have a distribution plate or mesh at a bottom thereof to support the solids being fluidized. The fluidized-bed reactor can also have inlet and outlet ports, and a phase separator or other suitable outlet to permit CO2 to degas from the fluidized-bed reactor.

[0240] FIG. 12 illustrates a DAC facility 1400 with another example of a regeneration facility 1430 which is free of a calciner and does not produce calcium carbonate solids. The regeneration facility 1430 is configured to regenerate a CCh-rich sorbent (e.g., the CCh-laden capture solution 111) received from one or multiple gas-liquid contactor(s) 100, 100A, 100B, 100C. The regeneration facility 1430 includes a carbonate separation subsystem 1404 and a products generation subsystem 1406. The gas-liquid contactor(s) 100, 100A, 100B, 100C are fluidly coupled to the products generation subsystem 1406 via the carbonate separation subsystem 1404. The gas-liquid contactor(s) 100, 100A, 100B, 100C provide the CCh-laden capture solution 111 to the carbonate separation subsystem 1404.

[0241] The CCh-laden capture solution 111 can be an aqueous mixture comprising primarily carbonate ions, alkaline metal carbonate (e.g., K2CO3, Na2COs), or a combination thereof. The CCh-laden capture solution 111 can also include other components in smalleramounts, such as hydroxide ions, alkali metal hydroxide (e.g., KOH, NaOH), water, and impurities. For example, the CO2-laden capture solution 111 can comprise between 0.4 M to 14 M K2CO3 and between 1 M to 10 M KOH. In example implementations, the CO2-laden capture solution 111 can comprise an aqueous Na2COs — NaOH mixture. In example implementations, the CO2-laden capture solution 111 can comprise a mixture of K2CO3 and Na2CO3.

[0242] Referring to FIG. 12, the carbonate separation subsystem 1404 can include a caustic evaporator or a crystallizer (or both). In example implementations, the carbonate separation subsystem 1404 can include a nanofiltration unit or a crystallizer (or both). The carbonate separation subsystem 1404 yields a crystalline carbonate hydrate 1414. Crystalline carbonate hydrate 1414 can include carbonate sesquihydrate (M2CO3 1.5 H2O) or an anhydrous carbonate. For example, crystalline carbonate hydrate 1414 can include potassium carbonate sesquihydrate (K2CO3 1.5 H2O). In some examples, the crystalline carbonate hydrate 1414 can include sodium carbonate decahydrate (Na2CC>3 10 H2O). In some examples, the crystalline carbonate hydrate 1414 can include potassium sodium carbonate hexahydrate (KNaCCh M H2O). In example implementations, the crystalline carbonate hydrate 1414 can include a different stoichiometry of water molecules per unit carbonate in the crystalline carbonate (e.g., M2CO3 n H2O where M is an alkali metal and n is an integer or fractional value).

[0243] The products generation subsystem 1406 receives the crystalline carbonate hydrate 1414. In example implementations, the products generation subsystem 1406 includes a dissolving tank 1408 fluidly coupled to an electrochemical cell 1410. In example implementations, the products generation subsystem 1406 can include a caustic evaporator.

[0244] The dissolving tank 1408 can receive the crystalline carbonate hydrate 1414 from the carbonate separation subsystem 1404, a water stream 1420, and a brine stream 1422. In example implementations, a polished aqueous solution can be used instead of or in addition to the water stream 1420. A polished aqueous solution can be substantially free of particulates and dissolved contaminants (e.g., only contain an insignificant amount of particulates and dissolved contaminants, if any). The crystalline carbonate hydrate 1414 dissolves in water and combines with bicarbonate HCO3 in the brine stream 1422 to form a feed solution 1416. The feed solution 1416 can include a bicarbonate HCO3 -rich solution with a mixture of other components such as carbonate and water.

[0245] The electrochemical cell 1410 receives the feed solution 1416 and a water stream 1420. The electrochemical cell 1410 yields at least two product streams including a firstproduct stream 1412 that comprises a hydroxide (regenerated CO2 capture solution 114) and is returned to the gas-liquid contactor(s) 100, 100 A, 100B, 100C for reuse. The second product stream 1428 is sent to a flash tank 1429 where a gaseous CO2 product stream 1424 is partially or fully released from the flash tank 1429 and then sent to one or more processing units (e.g., compression unit, electroreduction subsystem, carbon products manufacturing system, syngas generation reactor). For further details and alternate implementations, reference is made to the patent application entitled “Systems and methods for capturing carbon dioxide and regenerating a capture solution” and published as US 2022 / 03142707 Al, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.

[0246] The regeneration facility 1230, 1330, 1430 can include liquid distribution pipes, solids conveying equipment, filtration systems, intermediate components like storage vessels, and / or an assembly of components which function cooperatively to regenerate the CO2 capture solution 114. The regeneration facility 1230, 1330, 1430 also includes pumps which flow liquids to and from the regeneration facility 1230, 1330, 1430. The regeneration facility 1230, 1330, 1430 can be part of the gas- sorbent contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C, or part of the contactor walls 302, 606, 608, 61 la-61 le, or separate from the preceding components and system.

[0247] The regeneration facility 612, 1230, 1330, 1430 of the DAC facility 600, 600 A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 can function with sorbents other than liquid sorbents. For example, in implementations where the sorbent is a solid sorbent such as those described above, the CO2 molecules in the CCh-laden air 101 can be adsorbed by the solid sorbent. Thereafter, the regeneration facility 1230, 1330, 1430 can regenerate the solid sorbent, by releasing the adsorbed CO2 from the solid sorbent. The regeneration facility 1230, 1330, 1430 in such implementations can include different componentry, such as heating units for heating the CO2- rich sorbent to a certain temperature, or reactors for performing a pressure / vacuum or humidity swing. The regeneration facility 612, 1230, 1330, 1430 can provide the material needed for regenerating the CCh-rich sorbent, such as heat (via steam, for example), and / or vacuum (via negative pressure creating machines). After regeneration, the solid sorbent can be reused by the gas-sorbent contactor(s) 100, 100 A, 100B, 100C for the CO2 capture process. In such implementations, the regeneration facility 612, 1230, 1330, 1430 or components thereof can be part of the gas-sorbent contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C. For example, a steam generation unit and / or a water removal unit of the regeneration facility 612, 1230, 1330, 1430 can be materially coupled to, or part or, the gas-sorbent contactor(s) 100, 100A, 100B, 100C. In suchgas-sorbent contactor(s) 100, 100A, 100B, 100C steam is used as a heat source to release the CO2 and regenerate the solid sorbent.

[0248] The description and one, some, or all of the advantages, and functions of features of the regeneration facility 1230, 1330, 1430 apply mutatis mutandis to the regeneration facility 612. Thus, the description, features, streams, and functionality of the regeneration facility 1230, 1330, 1430 provided in relation to FIGS. 9 to 12 apply mutatis mutandis to the regeneration facility 612.

[0249] Referring to FIG. 13, a method 1700 for installing a direct air capture (DAC) facility on a plot of land is disclosed. At 1702, the method 1700 includes positioning a plurality of gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C side by side on a plot of land (e.g., plot of land 602) to form a contactor wall (e.g., contactor wall 302, 606, 608, 61 la-61 le). The contactor wall extends along a wall axis (e.g., 309, wall axis 609a or 609b) that is parallel to a prevailing wind direction (e.g., PWD 604). Each gas-sorbent contactor 100, 100A, 100B, 100C has at least one air inlet 1031 defining an upright plane 117 being parallel to the PWD.

[0250] The method 1700 can include siting a regeneration facility (e.g., regeneration facility 612, 1230, 1330, 1430) on the plot of land 602 in communication with the gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C. In an implementation, the regeneration facility 612, 1230, 1330, 1430 is disposed downstream of the contactor wall relative to the PWD. In another implementation, the regeneration facility 612, 1230, 1330, 1430 is disposed upstream of the contactor wall relative to the PWD.

[0251] Referring to FIG. 14, a method 1800 for installing a direct air capture (DAC) facility on a plot of land is disclosed. At 1802, the method 1800 includes positioning a plurality of gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C side by side on a plot of land (e.g., plot of land 602) to form at least one contactor wall (e.g., contactor walls 302, 606, 608, 61 la-61 le). The at least one contactor wall extends in a direction parallel to a prevailing wind direction (e.g., PWD 604) of the plot of land 602 and has a wall length (e.g., 310) defined parallel to the PWD between a leading gas-sorbent contactor 100L of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C and a trailing gas-sorbent contactor 100T of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C. The wall length is a function of dispersion characteristics of a CCh-lean plume (e.g., CCh-lean plume 305) emitted from the leading gas-sorbent contactor 100L during operation thereof, to mitigate ingestion of the CCh-lean plume by the trailing gassorbent contactor 100T.

[0252] Referring to FIG. 15, a method 1900 for installing a direct air capture (DAC) facility on a plot of land is disclosed. At 1902, the method 1900 includes spacing a plurality ofcontactor walls (e.g., contactor walls 302, 606, 608, 61 la-61 le) apart from each other on a plot of land (e.g., plot of land 602) having a prevailing wind direction (e.g., PWD 604). Each contactor wall extends in a direction parallel to the PWD and is formed of a plurality of gassorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C positioned side by side. Each contactor wall (e.g., contactor wall 302, 606, 608, 61 la-61 le) is spaced apart from at least one adjacent contactor wall (e.g., contactor wall 302, 606, 608, 61 la-61 le) on the plot of land by a reingestion mitigation distance (e.g., 616). The reingestion mitigation distance is a function of dispersion characteristics of a CCh-lean wall plume (e.g., CCh-lean wall plume 306) emitted collectively from the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100 A, 100B, 100C that form the contactor wall (e.g., contactor wall 606) during operation of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors 100,IOO A, 100B, 100C. Spacing each contactor wall apart from the adjacent contactor wall by the reingestion mitigation distance mitigates ingestion of the CO2-lean wall plume by the gassorbent contactors 100, 100 A, 100B, 100C form the at least one adjacent contactor wall (e.g., contactor wall 608).

[0253] Referring to FIG. 16, a method 2000 for producing carbon dioxide (CO2) is disclosed. At 2002, the method 2000 includes flowing atmospheric air (e.g., CCh-laden air 101) through a plurality of gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C to capture CO2 from the atmospheric air and generate a CCh-rich sorbent (e.g., CO2-laden capture solution 111), and to generate a CCh-lean plume (e.g., CCh-lean plume 305) emitted from the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C. The plurality of gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C are positioned side by side to form at least one contactor wall (e.g., contactor wall 302, 606, 608, 61 la-61 le). The at least one contactor wall extends in a direction parallel to a prevailing wind direction (e.g., PWD 604) on a plot of land (e.g., plot of land 602), and has a wall length (e.g., 310) defined parallel to the prevailing wind direction between a leading gassorbent contactor 100L of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C and a trailing gas-sorbent contactor 100T of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100 A,IOOB, 100C. The wall length is a function of dispersion characteristics of the CCE-lean plume 305 emitted from the leading gas-sorbent contactor 100L during operation thereof, to mitigate ingestion of the CCE-lean plume by the trailing gas-sorbent contactor 100T.

[0254] At 2004, the method 2000 includes regenerating the CCE-rich sorbent to produce a CCE-lean sorbent (e.g., CO2 capture solution 114) and to produce a CO2 product stream (e.g., CO2 product stream 924).

[0255] Referring to FIG. 17, a method 2100 for producing carbon dioxide (CO2) is disclosed. At 2102, the method 2100 includes flowing atmospheric air (e.g., CCh-laden air 101)through a plurality of gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C to capture CO2 from the atmospheric air and generate a CCh-rich sorbent (e.g., CO2-laden capture solution 111), and to generate a CCh-lean wall plume (e.g., CCh-lean wall plume 306) which is emitted from the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C. The plurality of gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C form a plurality of contactor walls (e.g., contactor walls 302, 606, 608, 61 la-61 le). Each contactor wall (e.g., contactor wall 606) is spaced apart from at least one adjacent contactor wall (e.g., contactor wall 608) on a plot of land (e.g., plot of land 602) by a reingestion mitigation distance (616). The reingestion mitigation distance is a function of dispersion characteristics of the CCh-lean wall plume emitted from the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100A, 100B, 100C forming the contactor wall (contactor wall 606) during operation of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100 A, 100B, 100C, to mitigate ingestion of the CCh-lean wall plume by the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors 100, 100 A, 100B, 100C forming the at least one adjacent contactor wall (contactor wall 608).

[0256] At 2104, the method 2100 can include regenerating the CCh-rich sorbent to produce a CCh-lean sorbent (e.g., CO2 capture solution 114) and to produce a CO2 product stream (e.g., CO2 product stream 924).

[0257] FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram of a control system (or controller) 1600, which cancan be used, for example, with the gas-sorbent contactor 100, 100 A, 100B, 100C, the DAC facility 600, 600A, 600B, 1200, 1300, 1400 and the regeneration facility 612, 1230, 1330, 1430. The control system 1600 can be used for the operations described in association with any of the computer-implemented methods described previously, for example as or as part of the control system 999 or other controllers described herein.

[0258] The control system 1600 is intended to include various forms of digital computers, such as laptops, desktops, workstations, personal digital assistants, servers, blade servers, mainframes, and other appropriate computers. The control system 1600 can also include mobile devices, such as personal digital assistants, cellular telephones, smartphones, and other similar computing devices. Additionally, the system can include portable storage media, such as, Universal Serial Bus (USB) flash drives. For example, the USB flash drives may store operating systems and other applications. The USB flash drives can include input / output components, such as a wireless transmitter or USB connector that may be inserted into a USB port of another computing device.

[0259] The control system 1600 includes a processor 1610, a memory 1620, a storage device 1630, and an input / output device 1640. Each of the components 1610, 1620, 1630 and 1640 are interconnected using a system bus 1650. The processor 1610 is capable of processinginstructions for execution within the control system 1600. The processor may be designed using any of a number of architectures. For example, the processor 1610 may be a CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computers) processor, a RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) processor, or a MISC (Minimal Instruction Set Computer) processor.

[0260] In one implementation, the processor 1610 is a single-threaded processor. In some implementations, the processor 1610 is a multi -threaded processor. The processor 1610 is capable of processing instructions stored in the memory 1620 or on the storage device 1630 to display graphical information for a user interface on the input / output device 1640.

[0261] The memory 1620 stores information within the control system 1600. In one implementation, the memory 1620 is a computer-readable medium. In one implementation, the memory 1620 is a volatile memory unit. In some implementations, the memory 1620 is a non-volatile memory unit.

[0262] The storage device 1630 is capable of providing mass storage for the control system 1600. In one implementation, the storage device 1630 is a computer-readable medium. In various different implementations, the storage device 1630 may be a floppy disk device, a hard disk device, an optical disk device, or a tape device.

[0263] The input / output device 1640 provides input / output operations for the control system 1600. In one implementation, the input / output device 1640 includes a keyboard and / or pointing device. In some implementations, the input / output device 1640 includes a display unit for displaying graphical user interfaces.

[0264] In example implementations, the processor 1610 is configured to execute a machine learning model (e.g., an artificial intelligence model) that employs multiple layers of models to generate an output for a received input. A deep neural network is a deep machine learning model that includes an output layer and one or more hidden layers that each apply a non-linear transformation to a received input to generate an output. In some cases, the neural network may be a recurrent neural network. A recurrent neural network is a neural network that receives an input sequence and generates an output sequence from the input sequence. In particular, a recurrent neural network uses some or all of the internal state of the network after processing a previous input in the input sequence to generate an output from the current input in the input sequence. The machine learning model executed by the processor 1610 can be, for example, a deep-learning neural network or a "very" deep learning neural network. For example, the machine learning model executed by the processor 1610 can be a convolutional neural network or a recurrent network. The machine learning model can have residual connections or dense connections.

[0265] In example implementations, the machine learning model executed by the processor 1610 is an ensemble of models that may include all or a subset of the architectures described above.

[0266] In example implementations, the machine learning model executed by the processor 1610 is a graph neural network (GNN). GNNs are a designed to process data that can be represented in a graph form and feature pairwise message passing to enable iterative updating of node representation of the graph data.

[0267] In example implementations, the machine learning model executed by the processor 1610 can be a feedforward auto-encoder neural network. For example, the machine learning model executed by the processor 1610 can be a three-layer auto-encoder neural network. The machine learning model executed by the processor 1610 may include an input layer, a hidden layer, and an output layer. In example implementations, the neural network has no recurrent connections between layers. Each layer of the neural network may be fully connected to the next, e.g., there may be no pruning between the layers. The neural network may include an optimizer for training the network and computing updated layer weights. In example implementations, the neural network may apply a mathematical transformation, e.g., a convolutional transformation or factor analysis to input data prior to feeding the input data to the network.

[0268] In example implementations, the machine learning model executed by the processor 1610 can be a supervised model. For example, for each input provided to the model during training, the machine learning model can be instructed as to what the correct output should be. The machine learning model executed by the processor 1610 can use batch training, e.g., training on a subset of examples before each adjustment, instead of the entire available set of examples. This may improve the efficiency of training the model and may improve the generalizability of the model. In example implementations, the machine learning model executed by the processor 1610 may be an unsupervised model. For example, the model may adjust itself based on mathematical distances between examples rather than based on feedback on its performance. In example implementations, the machine learning model executed by the processor 1610 can provide suggested additional data that could further improve the output of the machine learning model.

[0269] Certain features described can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or in combinations of them. The apparatus can be implemented in a computer program product tangibly embodied in an information carrier, e.g., in a machine-readable storage device for execution by a programmable processor; and methodsteps can be performed by a programmable processor executing a program of instructions to perform functions of the described implementations by operating on input data and generating output. The described features can be implemented advantageously in one or more computer programs that are executable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor coupled to receive data and instructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a data storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device. A computer program is a set of instructions that can be used, directly or indirectly, in a computer to perform a certain activity or bring about a certain result. A computer program can be written in any form of programming language, including compiled or interpreted languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment.

[0270] Suitable processors for the execution of a program of instructions include, by way of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, and the sole processor or one of multiple processors of any kind of computer. Generally, a processor will receive instructions and data from a read-only memory or a random-access memory or both. The essential elements of a computer are a processor for executing instructions and one or more memories for storing instructions and data. Generally, a computer will also include, or be operatively coupled to communicate with, one or more mass storage devices for storing data files; such devices include magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and optical disks. Storage devices suitable for tangibly embodying computer program instructions and data include all forms of non-volatile memory, including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, such as EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magnetooptical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The processor and the memory can be supplemented by, or incorporated in, ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits).

[0271] To provide for interaction with a user, the features can be implemented on a computer having a display device such as a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointing device such as a mouse or a trackball by which the user can provide input to the computer. Additionally, such activities can be implemented via touchscreen flat panel displays and other appropriate mechanisms.

[0272] The features can be implemented in a control system (such as control system 999) that includes a back-end component, such as a data server, or that includes a middleware component, such as an application server or an Internet server, or that includes a front-endcomponent, such as a client computer having a graphical user interface or an Internet browser, or any combination of them. The components of the system can be connected by any form or medium of digital data communication such as a communication network. Examples of communication networks include a local area network (“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), peer-to-peer networks (having ad-hoc or static members), grid computing infrastructures, and the Internet.

[0273] The term “couple” and variants of it such as “coupled,” “couples,” and “coupling” as used in this description is intended to include indirect and direct connections unless otherwise indicated. For example, if a first device is coupled to a second device, that coupling may be through a direct connection or through an indirect connection via other devices and connections. Similarly, if the first device is communicatively coupled to the second device, communication may be through a direct connection or through an indirect connection via other devices and connections. In particular, a fluid coupling means that a direct or indirect pathway is provided for a fluid to flow between two fluidly coupled devices. Also, a thermal coupling means that a direct or indirect pathway is provided for heat energy to flow between to thermally coupled devices.

[0274] While this specification contains many specific implementation details, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features specific to particular implementations s. Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate implementations can also be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single implementation can also be implemented in multiple implementations separately or in any suitable sub-combination. Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a sub-combination or variation of a sub-combination.

[0275] Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various system components in the implementations described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all implementations,and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products.

[0276] A number of embodiments of the disclosure have been described. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. Further modifications and alternative embodiments of various aspects will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of this description. Accordingly, this description is to be construed as illustrative only. It is to be understood that the forms shown and described herein are to be taken as examples of embodiments. Elements and materials may be substituted for those illustrated and described herein, parts and processes may be reversed, and certain features may be utilized independently, all as would be apparent to one skilled in the art after having the benefit of this description. Changes may be made in the elements described herein without departing from the spirit and scope as described in the following claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A direct air capture (DAC) facility for capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from atmospheric air, the DAC facility disposed on a plot of land having a prevailing wind direction, the DAC facility comprising: at least one contactor wall formed from a plurality of gas-sorbent contactors positioned side by side, the at least one contactor wall disposed on the plot of land and extending along a wall axis parallel to the prevailing wind direction, each gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors comprising: a housing comprising a plurality of structural members; at least one air inlet and at least one air outlet, the at least one air inlet defining a plane parallel to the prevailing wind direction; a gas-sorbent interface configured to have a sorbent for capturing CO2 from the atmospheric air to form a CCh-rich sorbent; and at least one fan operable to circulate the atmospheric air through the gas-sorbent interface; and a regeneration facility in communication with the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors, the regeneration facility configured to process the C Ch-rich sorbent and to regenerate the CO2- rich sorbent to form a regenerated sorbent for the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors.

2. The DAC facility of claim 1, wherein: the at least one air inlet comprises two air inlets, the planes of the two air inlets being parallel to each other; and the at least one air outlet is disposed above the two air inlets and defines an outlet plane perpendicular to the planes of the two air inlets.

3. The DAC facility of claim 1 or 2, wherein the regeneration facility is disposed downstream of the at least one contactor wall relative to the prevailing wind direction.

4. The DAC facility of claim 1 or 2, wherein the regeneration facility is disposed upstream of the at least one contactor wall relative to the prevailing wind direction.

5. The DAC facility of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the gas-sorbent interface comprises one or more packing sections.

6. The DAC facility of claim 5, wherein the one or more packing sections comprise at least one structured packing comprising a plurality of packing sheets.

7. The DAC facility of claim 5 or 6, wherein: the sorbent comprises a CO2 capture solution; and each gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors comprises a liquid distribution system configured to distribute the CO2 capture solution onto the one or more packing sections to absorb the CO2 from the atmospheric air to form the CCh-rich sorbent.

8. The DAC facility of any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the one or more packing sections comprise an upper arrangement of packing and a lower arrangement of packing, and the upper arrangement of packing and the lower arrangement of packing are separated by a vertically-extending gap; and the liquid distribution system comprises at least one redistribution basin positioned in the vertically-extending gap, the at least one redistribution basin configured to receive the CO2 capture solution from the upper arrangement of packing, and flow the CO2 capture solution to the lower arrangement of packing.

9. The DAC facility of claim 7 or 8, wherein: the regeneration facility is in fluid communication with the liquid distribution system to receive the CO2 capture solution; and the regeneration facility is configured to regenerate the CO2 capture solution and form a regenerated CO2 capture solution for the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors.

10. The DAC facility of claim 9, wherein the regeneration facility comprises an electrochemical system configured to regenerate the CO2 capture solution and produce a CO2 product stream, the electrochemical system comprising: a carbonate separation subsystem configured to receive the CO2 capture solution and separate at least a portion of carbonate products from the CO2 capture solution; and an electrochemical cell fluidly coupled to the carbonate separation subsystem, the electrochemical cell configured to: receive a feed solution and a water stream; andyield at least two product streams including a first product stream that comprises a regenerated CO2 capture solution.

11. The DAC facility of claim 10, wherein the electrochemical cell is configured to yield the regenerated CO2 capture solution comprising hydroxide for the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors.

12. The DAC facility of claim 12 or Error! Reference source not found., wherein the CO2 capture solution comprises at least one of K2CO3, Na2COs, or a combination thereof.

13. The DAC facility of claim 7, wherein the gas-sorbent interface is configured to receive the CO2 capture solution for capturing carbon dioxide from the atmospheric air to form the CCh-rich sorbent, the CO2 capture solution comprising potassium hydroxide (KOH), sodium hydroxide (NaOH), additives, or a combination thereof.

14. The DAC facility of any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the regeneration system comprises at least one reactor configured to react, via a causticization reaction, slaked lime (Ca(OH)2) and the CO2 capture solution to produce hydroxide and calcium carbonate (CaCCh) solids.

15. The DAC facility of claim 14, wherein the regeneration system comprises a calciner configured to calcine the calcium carbonate solids and produce an exhaust gas stream comprising a CO2 product stream.

16. The DAC facility of any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein the at least one contactor wall includes a plurality of contactor walls, each contactor wall of the plurality of contactor walls spaced apart from an adjacent contactor wall of the plurality of contactor walls by a reingestion mitigation distance, the reingestion mitigation distance being transverse to the prevailing wind direction.

17. The DAC facility of claim 16, wherein the reingestion mitigation distance is a function of dispersion characteristics of a CCh-lean wall plume emitted from a first contactor wall during operation thereof toward the adjacent contactor wall, a lateral plume dispersion distance of the CCh-lean wall plume defined perpendicular to the prevailing wind direction from a gas-sorbentcontactor of the first contactor wall to a furthest lateral extent of the CCh-lean wall plume from said gas-sorbent contactor, the lateral plume dispersion distance being less than the reingestion mitigation distance.

18. The DAC facility of claim 16 or 17, wherein the reingestion mitigation distance is a function of variations in the prevailing wind direction.

19. The DAC facility of any one of claims 1 to 18, wherein the wall axis is parallel to a wind direction offset 180° from the prevailing wind direction.

20. The DAC facility of any one of claims 1 to 19, wherein the at least one contactor wall comprises a plurality of dividing walls, each dividing wall of the plurality of dividing walls being upright, the plurality of dividing walls fluidly separating interiors of the plurality of gassorbent contactors of the at least one contactor wall.

21. A method for installing a direct air capture (DAC) facility, the method comprising: positioning a plurality of gas-sorbent contactors side by side on a plot of land to form at least one contactor wall, the at least one contactor wall extending along a wall axis being parallel to a prevailing wind direction of the plot of land, each gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors having at least one air inlet defining an upright plane being parallel to the prevailing wind direction.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising siting a regeneration facility on the plot of land in communication with the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein siting the regeneration facility on the plot of land comprises disposing the regeneration facility downstream of the at least one contactor wall relative to the prevailing wind direction.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein siting the regeneration facility on the plot of land comprises disposing the regeneration facility upstream of the at least one contactor wall relative to the prevailing wind direction.

25. The method of any one of claims 21 to 24, wherein positioning the plurality of gassorbent contactors comprises positioning the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors to form the at least one contactor wall having a wall length to mitigate ingestion of a CCh-lean plume emitted from the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors during operation thereof, the wall length parallel to the prevailing wind direction and defined between a leading gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors and a trailing gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gassorbent contactors, and the wall length is a function of dispersion characteristics of the CO2- lean plume emitted from the leading gas-sorbent contactor during operation thereof.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein positioning the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors to form the at least one contactor wall having the wall length comprises positioning the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors having the wall length being less than a plume dispersion distance, the plume dispersion distance defined parallel to the prevailing wind direction between the leading gas-sorbent contactor and a location downstream of the leading gas-sorbent contactor relative to the prevailing wind direction, the location representative of where some or all of the CCh-lean plume being ingested by the one or more of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors.

27. The method of any one of claims 21 to 24, wherein positioning the plurality of gassorbent contactors side to form the at least one contactor wall comprises positioning the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors to form the at least one contactor wall having a wall length defined between a leading gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors and a location downstream relative to the prevailing wind direction, the location downstream having an acceptable level of CO2 concentration loss resulting from a CCh-lean plume emitted from the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors during operation thereof.

28. The method of any one of claims 21 to 27, wherein positioning the plurality of gassorbent contactors comprises positioning the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors to form a plurality of contactor walls including at least a first contactor wall and a second contactor wall adjacent to the first contactor wall, the second contactor wall spaced apart from the first contactor wall on the plot of land by a reingestion mitigation distance defined along a direction transverse to the prevailing wind direction, the reingestion mitigation distance is a function of dispersion characteristics of a CCh-lean wall plume emitted from the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors forming the first contactor wall during operation thereof, and spacing the second contactor wall apart from the first contactor wall by the reingestion mitigation distancemitigates ingestion of the CCh-lean wall plume by the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors forming the second contactor wall.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the reingestion mitigation distance is a function of dispersion characteristics of the CCh-lean wall plume emitted from the first contactor wall during operation thereof toward the second contactor wall, a lateral plume dispersion distance of the CCh-lean wall plume defined perpendicular to the prevailing wind direction from a gassorbent contactor of the first contactor wall to a furthest lateral extent of the CCh-lean wall plume from said gas-sorbent contactor, the lateral plume dispersion distance being less than the reingestion mitigation distance.

30. The method of claim 28 or 29, wherein the reingestion mitigation distance is a function of variations in the prevailing wind direction.

31. The method of any one of claims 21 to 30, wherein positioning the plurality of gassorbent contactors to form the at least one contactor wall comprises aligning the wall axis parallel to the prevailing wind direction and to a wind direction offset 180° from the prevailing wind direction.

32. A direct air capture (DAC) facility for capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from atmospheric air, the DAC facility disposed on a plot of land having a prevailing wind direction, the DAC facility comprising: at least one contactor wall formed from a plurality of gas-sorbent contactors positioned side by side, the at least one contactor wall disposed on the plot of land and extending along a wall axis parallel to the prevailing wind direction, each gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors comprising: a housing comprising a plurality of structural members; at least one air inlet and at least one air outlet, the at least one air inlet defining a plane parallel to the prevailing wind direction; a gas-sorbent interface configured to have a sorbent for capturing CO2 from the atmospheric air, to form a CCh-rich sorbent and a CCh-lean gas; and at least one fan operable to circulate the atmospheric air through the gas-sorbent interface, and to flow a plume of the CCh-lean gas;the at least one contactor wall having a wall length defined parallel to the prevailing wind direction between a leading gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors and a trailing gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors, the wall length being a function of dispersion characteristics of the plume emitted from the leading gas-sorbent contactor during operation thereof, the at least one contactor wall having the wall length configured to mitigate ingestion of the plume by the trailing gas-sorbent contactor; and a regeneration facility in communication with the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors to process the CCh-rich sorbent, the regeneration facility configured to regenerate the CCh-rich sorbent to form a regenerated sorbent for the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors.

33. The DAC facility of claim 32, wherein the wall length is a function of at least a speed of the prevailing wind.

34. The DAC facility of claim 32 or 33, wherein: the at least one air inlet comprises two air inlets, the planes of the two air inlets being parallel to each other; and the at least one air outlet is disposed above the two air inlets and defines an outlet plane perpendicular to the planes of the two air inlets.

35. The DAC facility of any one of claims 32 to 34, wherein the regeneration facility is disposed downstream of the at least one contactor wall relative to the prevailing wind direction.

36. The DAC facility of any one of claims 32 to 34, wherein the regeneration facility is disposed upstream of the at least one contactor wall relative to the prevailing wind direction.

37. The DAC facility of any one of claims 32 to 36, wherein the gas-sorbent interface comprises one or more packing sections.

38. The DAC facility of claim 37, wherein the one or more packing sections comprise at least one structured packing comprising a plurality of packing sheets.

39. The DAC facility of claim 37 or 38, wherein: the sorbent comprises a CO2 capture solution; andeach gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors comprises a liquid distribution system configured to distribute the CO2 capture solution onto the one or more packing sections to absorb the CO2 from the atmospheric air to form the CCh-rich sorbent.

40. The DAC facility of any one of claims 37 to 39, wherein: the one or more packing sections comprise an upper arrangement of packing and a lower arrangement of packing, and the upper arrangement of packing and the lower arrangement of packing are separated by a vertically-extending gap; and the liquid distribution system comprises at least one redistribution basin positioned in the vertically-extending gap, the at least one redistribution basin configured to receive the CO2 capture solution from the upper arrangement of packing, and flow the CO2 capture solution to the lower arrangement of packing.

41. The DAC facility of claim 39 or 40, wherein: the regeneration facility is in fluid communication with the liquid distribution system to receive the CO2 capture solution; and the regeneration facility is configured to regenerate the CO2 capture solution and form a regenerated CO2 capture solution for the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors.

42. The DAC facility of claim 41, wherein the regeneration facility comprises an electrochemical system configured to regenerate the CO2 capture solution and produce a CO2 product stream, the electrochemical system comprising: a carbonate separation subsystem configured to receive the CO2 capture solution and separate at least a portion of carbonate products from the CO2 capture solution; and an electrochemical cell fluidly coupled to the carbonate separation subsystem, the electrochemical cell configured to: receive a feed solution and a water stream; and yield at least two product streams including a first product stream that comprises a regenerated CO2 capture solution.

43. The DAC facility of claim 42, wherein the electrochemical cell is configured to yield the regenerated CO2 capture solution comprising hydroxide for the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors.

44. The DAC facility of claim 41 or 42, wherein the CO2 capture solution comprises at least one of: K2CO3, Na2CC , or a combination thereof.

45. The DAC facility of claim 39, wherein the gas-sorbent interface is configured to receive the CO2 capture solution for capturing carbon dioxide from the atmospheric air to form the CCh-rich sorbent, the CO2 capture solution comprising potassium hydroxide (KOH), sodium hydroxide (NaOH), additives, or a combination thereof.

46. The DAC facility of any one of claims 39 to 41, wherein the regeneration system comprises at least one reactor configured to react, via a causticization reaction, slaked lime (Ca(0H)2) and the CO2 capture solution to produce hydroxide and calcium carbonate (CaCCh) solids.

47. The DAC facility of claim 46, wherein the regeneration system comprises a calciner configured to calcine the calcium carbonate solids and produce an exhaust gas stream comprising a CO2 product stream.

48. The DAC facility of any one of claims 1 to 47, wherein the at least one contactor wall includes a plurality of contactor walls, each contactor wall of the plurality of contactor walls spaced apart from an adjacent contactor wall of the plurality of contactor walls by a reingestion mitigation distance, the reingestion mitigation distance being transverse to the prevailing wind direction.

49. The DAC facility of claim 48, wherein the reingestion mitigation distance is a function of dispersion characteristics of a CCh-lean wall plume emitted from a first contactor wall during operation thereof toward the adjacent contactor wall, a lateral plume dispersion distance of the CCh-lean wall plume defined perpendicular to the prevailing wind direction from a gas-sorbent contactor of the first contactor wall to a furthest lateral extent of the CCh-lean wall plume from said gas-sorbent contactor, the lateral plume dispersion distance being less than the reingestion mitigation distance.

50. The DAC facility of claim 48 or 49, wherein the reingestion mitigation distance is a function of variations in the prevailing wind direction.

51. The DAC facility of any one of claims 32 to 50, wherein the wall axis is parallel to a wind direction offset 180° from the prevailing wind direction.

52. The DAC facility of any one of claims 32 to 51, wherein the at least one contactor wall comprises a plurality of dividing walls, each dividing wall of the plurality of dividing walls being upright, the plurality of dividing walls fluidly separating interiors of the plurality of gassorbent contactors of the at least one contactor wall.

53. A method for installing a direct air capture (DAC) facility on a plot of land, the method comprising: positioning a plurality of gas-sorbent contactors side by side on the plot of land to form at least one contactor wall, the at least one contactor wall extending in a direction parallel to a prevailing wind direction of the plot of land, the at least one contactor wall having a wall length parallel to the prevailing wind direction and defined between a leading gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors and a trailing gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors, the wall length being a function of dispersion characteristics of a CO2- lean plume emitted from the leading gas-sorbent contactor during operation thereof, the at least one contactor wall having the wall length configured to mitigate ingestion of the CCh-lean plume by the trailing gas-sorbent contactor.

54. The method of claim 53, wherein positioning the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors to form the at least one contactor wall comprises positioning the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors having the wall length being less than a plume dispersion distance, the plume dispersion distance defined parallel to the prevailing wind direction between the leading gassorbent contactor and a location downstream of the leading gas-sorbent contactor relative to the prevailing wind direction, the location representative of where some or all of the CCh-lean plume being ingested by the one or more of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors.

55. The method of claim 53, wherein positioning the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors side to form the at least one contactor wall comprises positioning the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors to form the at least one contactor wall having the wall length defined between the leading gas-sorbent contactor and a location downstream relative to the prevailing winddirection, the location downstream having an acceptable level of CO2 concentration loss resulting from the CCh-lean plume.

56. The method of any one of claims 53 to 55, further comprising siting a regeneration facility on the plot of land in communication with the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors.

57. The method of claim 56, wherein siting the regeneration facility on the plot of land comprises disposing the regeneration facility downstream of the at least one contactor wall relative to the prevailing wind direction.

58. The method of claim 56, wherein siting the regeneration facility on the plot of land comprises disposing the regeneration facility upstream of the at least one contactor wall relative to the prevailing wind direction.

59. The method of any one of claims 53 to 58, wherein positioning the plurality of gassorbent contactors comprises positioning the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors to form the at least one contactor wall and a second contactor wall adjacent to the at least one contactor wall, the second contactor wall spaced apart from the at least one contactor wall on the plot of land by a reingestion mitigation distance defined along a direction transverse to the prevailing wind direction, the reingestion mitigation distance is a function of a dispersion characteristics of a CCh-lean wall plume emitted from the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors forming the at least one contactor wall during operation thereof, and spacing the second contactor wall apart from the at least one contactor wall by the reingestion mitigation distance mitigates ingestion of the CCh-lean wall plume by the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors forming the second contactor wall.

60. The method of claim 59, wherein the reingestion mitigation distance is a function of dispersion characteristics of the CCh-lean wall plume emitted from the at least one contactor wall during operation thereof toward the second contactor wall, a lateral plume dispersion distance of the CCh-lean wall plume defined perpendicular to the prevailing wind direction from a gas-sorbent contactor of the at least one contactor wall to a furthest lateral extent of the CCh-lean wall plume from said gas-sorbent contactor, the lateral plume dispersion distance being less than the reingestion mitigation distance.

61. The method of claim 59 or 60, wherein the reingestion mitigation distance is a function of variations in the prevailing wind direction.

62. The method of claim 59 or 60, wherein the reingestion mitigation distance is a function of at least one of an anticipated maximum variation in angle of attack of the prevailing wind direction and a speed of the prevailing wind.

63. The method of any one of claims 53 to 62, wherein positioning the plurality of gassorbent contactors to form the at least one contactor wall comprises aligning the at least one contactor wall parallel to a wind direction offset 180° from the prevailing wind direction.

64. A direct air capture (DAC) facility for capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from atmospheric air, comprising: a plurality of contactor walls positioned on a plot of land having a prevailing wind direction, each contactor wall of the plurality of contactor walls extending in a direction parallel to the prevailing wind direction, each contactor wall of the plurality of contactor walls formed of a plurality of gas-sorbent contactors positioned side by side, each gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors comprising: a housing comprising a plurality of structural members; at least one air inlet and at least one air outlet, the at least one air inlet defining a plane parallel to the prevailing wind direction; a gas-sorbent interface having a sorbent for capturing CO2 from the atmospheric air; and at least one fan rotating about a fan axis and circulating the atmospheric air through the at least one air inlet, and through the gas-sorbent interface to contact the carbon dioxide from atmospheric air with the sorbent and form a CCh-rich sorbent and a CCh-lean plume; each contactor wall being spaced apart from at least one adjacent contactor wall on the plot of land by a reingestion mitigation distance, the reingestion mitigation distance being a function of dispersion characteristics of a CCh-lean wall plume formed from the CCh-lean plumes emitted from the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors forming the contactor wall during operation thereon, and spacing each contactor wall apart from the at least one adjacent contactor wall by the reingestion mitigation distance mitigates ingestion of the CCh-lean wallplume by the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors forming the at least one adjacent contactor wall; and a regeneration facility in communication with the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors, the regeneration facility being configured to process the CCh-rich sorbent, and to regenerate the CCh-rich sorbent to form a regenerated sorbent for the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors.

65. The DAC facility of claim 64, wherein the reingestion mitigation distance is a function of at least one of an anticipated maximum variation in angle of attack of the prevailing wind direction and a speed of the prevailing wind.

66. A method for installing a direct air capture (DAC) facility on a plot of land, the method comprising: spacing a plurality of contactor walls apart from each other on a plot of land having a prevailing wind direction, each contactor wall of the plurality of contactor walls extending in a direction parallel to the prevailing wind direction, each contactor wall of the plurality of contactor walls comprising a plurality of gas-sorbent contactors positioned side by side, each contactor wall being spaced apart from at least one adjacent contactor wall on the plot of land by a reingestion mitigation distance, the reingestion mitigation distance being a function of dispersion characteristics of a CCh-lean wall plume emitted from the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors forming the contactor wall during operation of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors, and spacing each contactor wall apart from the at least one adjacent contactor wall by the reingestion mitigation distance mitigates ingestion of the CCh-lean wall plume by the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors forming the at least one adjacent contactor wall.

67. The method of claim 66, further comprising positioning each contactor wall to extend in a direction parallel to the prevailing wind direction and to have a wall length defined parallel to the prevailing wind direction between a leading gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gassorbent contactors and a trailing gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors, the wall length being a function of dispersion characteristics of a CCh-lean plume emitted from the leading gas-sorbent contactor during operation thereof, the at least one contactor wall having the wall length configured to mitigate ingestion of the CCh-lean plume by the trailing gas-sorbent contactor.

68. The method of claim 66, wherein positioning each contactor wall comprises positioning each contactor wall to have a wall length defined parallel to the prevailing wind direction, the wall length being a function of at least a speed of the prevailing wind.

69. A method for producing carbon dioxide (CO2), the method comprising: flowing atmospheric air through a plurality of gas-sorbent contactors to capture CO2 from the atmospheric air, generate a CCh-rich sorbent, and generate a CCh-lean plume emitted from the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors, the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors being side by side to form at least one contactor wall, the at least one contactor wall extending in a direction parallel to a prevailing wind direction of a plot of land, the at least one contactor wall having a wall length defined parallel to the prevailing wind direction and defined between a leading gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gas-sorbent contactors and a downstream location relative to the prevailing wind direction, the wall length being a function of dispersion characteristics of the CCh-lean plume emitted from the leading gas-sorbent contactor during operation thereof, the at least one contactor wall having the wall length configured to mitigate ingestion of the CCh-lean plume by a trailing gas-sorbent contactor of the plurality of gassorbent contactors; and regenerating the CCh-rich sorbent to produce a CCh-lean sorbent and to produce a product CO2 stream.

70. The method of claim 69, wherein the downstream location has an acceptable level of CO2 concentration loss resulting from the CCh-lean plume emitted from the plurality of gassorbent contactors.

71. The method of claim 69, wherein the downstream location is the trailing gas-sorbent contactor, the wall length being less than a plume dispersion distance measured from the leading gas-sorbent contactor to a location at which the CCh-lean plume approaches groundlevel of the plot of land.

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