Porous Monolith Sorbent Blocks for Low-Pressure-Drop CO2 Capture
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing direct air capture (DAC) systems face high energy costs due to pressure drops, contamination of captured CO2 with air during desorption, and difficulties in sealing and replacing sorbent materials.
Innovation Solution
The use of porous monolith sorbent blocks with partial sealing and controlled desorption processes to minimize pressure drop and air contamination, allowing for efficient CO2 capture and easy sorbent replacement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If large quantities of air are pumped through DAC systems to capture CO2, then CO2 capture capacity is improved, but energy consumption increases due to pressure drop
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the air stream into multiple parallel flows that pass through separate sorbent beds simultaneously, rather than forcing all air through a single bed. This segmentation reduces the pressure drop across each individual bed while maintaining overall CO2 capture capacity through the combined effect of multiple beds
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from a single-column sequential processing approach to a multi-column parallel processing arrangement. By adding the dimension of parallelism, the system achieves both high CO2 capture capacity and low pressure drop by distributing the air flow across multiple pathways
2Manufacturing precision
If the cavity is fully sealed during desorption to prevent air contamination, then CO2 purity is improved, but the structural weight and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the sealing function from the main structural walls and implements it locally only at the gas inlet and outlet openings using lightweight door elements. This allows the majority of the cavity structure to remain open and lightweight while still achieving the necessary sealing for CO2 purity during desorption
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of making the entire cavity structure heavy and sealed, the invention applies sealing properties locally only where needed (at the openings) using lightweight movable doors, while the rest of the structure remains lightweight and open
3Manufacturing precision
If the cavity is fully sealed to prevent air contamination, then CO2 purity is improved, but the device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing function is extracted from the permanent structure and implemented as simple movable doors that can be opened and closed as needed. This reduces the inherent complexity of the structure while maintaining the ability to achieve high CO2 purity when sealing is required
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces dynamic movable doors that can transition between open and closed states, allowing the system to adapt its sealing level to the operational requirements. This dynamic approach reduces overall device complexity compared to a permanently sealed structure
4Manufacturing precision
If the cavity is fully sealed during desorption, then air contamination is reduced, but the difficulty of removing and replacing sorbent increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sorbent bed is divided into multiple accessible sections or columns, each with its own inlet/outlet openings that can be independently sealed. This allows sorbent in one section to be replaced without affecting the sealing or operation of other sections, making maintenance easier while maintaining CO2 purity
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
Achieves low-pressure drop and reduced air contamination in CO2 capture, with efficient CO2 purity and cost-effective operation through the use of monolith sorbent blocks and partial sealing techniques.
Implementation Method 1
passing the gaseous CO2-containing stream through a plurality of adjacent porous monolith sorbent blocks thereby adsorbing CO2 from the CO2-containing stream onto the monolith sorbent blocks
Implementation Method 2
desorbing the partly sealed monolith sorbent block by passing a stream of a desorption fluid through the partly sealed monolith sorbent block thereby releasing CO2 adsorbed to the partly sealed monolith sorbent block
Data Source
AI summary
A process for capture of CO2 from a gaseous CO2-containing stream. The process comprises (a) providing stream; (b) passing the stream through a plurality of adjacent porous monolith sorbent blocks. Each block defines internal channels from a first side of block that can receive the stream to a second side from which a treated gaseous stream having a reduced CO2-concentration can exit. The method further comprises (c) removing treated stream; (d) sealing the first and second sides of a block upon reaching a pre-determined CO2 saturation level, to obtain a partly sealed block; (e) desorbing the partly sealed block using a desorption fluid to obtain a CO2-enriched stream and a partly sealed CO2-depleted block; (f) removing the stream; (g) unsealing the first and second sides; and (h) recommencing passing the stream through the unsealed CO2-depleted block.