Nuclear-Powered Direct Air Capture Using Sodium Hydroxide Sorbent
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional direct air capture technologies require significant energy inputs to capture CO2 from the atmosphere, making them inefficient and costly.
Innovation Solution
An integrated energy system utilizing small modular nuclear reactors to generate electricity and steam, which powers a direct air capture process that employs sodium hydroxide as a liquid sorbent, incorporating an evaporation and thermal decomposition step to regenerate the sorbent and release CO2, reducing energy consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional direct air capture technologies are used, then CO2 can be captured from the atmosphere, but significant energy inputs are required making the process inefficient and costly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines direct air capture with waste heat utilization from industrial processes or power plants. The sorbent regeneration system is integrated with available heat sources, merging two separate functions (CO2 capture and waste heat utilization) into a unified process that reduces external energy requirements while maintaining capture efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The invention employs temperature swing adsorption where the sorbent material undergoes cyclic changes in temperature to alternately capture and release CO2. By changing the thermal parameter of the sorbent between low temperature (capture mode) and high temperature (regeneration mode), the system achieves continuous CO2 capture with reduced energy input compared to conventional methods
2Reliability
If sorbent materials are used to bind CO2 from air, then CO2 capture is achieved, but large amounts of energy are required for processing bulk air and regenerating the sorbent
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the CO2 component from bulk air using selective sorbent materials, rather than processing the entire air volume. The sorbent is specifically designed to bind CO2 molecules while allowing other air components to pass through, thereby reducing the energy required for air processing by focusing only on the target gas
Solution Approach 2:
The sorbent material acts as an intermediary substance that facilitates CO2 transfer from air to a concentrated form. The sorbent temporarily holds CO2 molecules, enabling separation and concentration without requiring direct energy input for bulk air processing. The sorbent mediates between the dilute CO2 in air and the concentrated CO2 product
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system achieves efficient CO2 capture with lower energy requirements compared to conventional methods, potentially making it more viable for large-scale atmospheric CO2 removal.
Implementation Method 1
an air contactor configured to react the atmospheric air with the sodium hydroxide to produce a solution of sodium carbonate and sodium hydroxide
Implementation Method 2
an evaporator coupled to the air contactor to receive the solution of sodium carbonate and sodium hydroxide, and wherein the evaporator is configured to heat the solution of sodium carbonate and sodium hydroxide to produce solid sodium carbonate
Implementation Method 3
a thermal decomposition chamber coupled to the evaporator to receive the solid sodium carbonate, wherein the thermal decomposition chamber is configured to heat the solid sodium carbonate to produce gaseous carbon dioxide and sodium oxide
Implementation Method 4
a sodium oxide reaction chamber coupled to the thermal decomposition chamber to receive the sodium oxide, wherein the sodium oxide reaction chamber is configured to react the sodium oxide with water to regenerate sodium hydroxide
Implementation Method 5
An integrated energy system utilizing small modular nuclear reactors to generate electricity and steam
Data Source
AI summary
Integrated Energy Systems (IESs), such as for use in capturing atmospheric carbon dioxide, and associated devices and methods are described herein. A representative IES can include a power plant system having multiple modular nuclear reactors, a desalination plant, a brine processing plant, and a direct air capture plant. The nuclear reactors can generate electricity and/or steam for use by the desalination plant and the direct air capture plant. The desalination plant can use the electricity and/or steam to produce brine from seawater or brackish water. The brine processing plant can receive the brine from the desalination plant and process the brine to produce sodium hydroxide. The direct air capture plant can use the sodium hydroxide as a liquid sorbent in a direct air capture process to capture carbon dioxide from atmospheric air.