Waste-Heat DAC Integration for Lower-Energy CO2 Separation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current direct air capture (DAC) processes for carbon dioxide require significant energy inputs, making them inefficient in utilizing waste heat from industrial processes like data centers, which generates substantial thermal energy that could be harnessed for carbon dioxide separation.
Innovation Solution
Integrating a heat pump system with a DAC process that utilizes waste heat from industrial sources, such as data centers, to transfer thermal energy and heat of compression to a refrigerant fluid, which is then used to separate carbon dioxide from a carbon dioxide source material, thereby reducing energy costs and enhancing efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If traditional DAC processes are used to capture carbon dioxide from ambient air, then carbon dioxide can be separated and captured, but significant energy inputs are required making the process inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts waste heat from industrial processes (a harmful byproduct that is discarded) into a useful resource for driving the DAC process. The waste heat is used to thermalize the sorbent material, enabling carbon dioxide release and capture without requiring additional energy inputs. This transforms an energy loss into an energy source, directly resolving the contradiction between energy efficiency and capture productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges two previously separate processes into an integrated system: (1) industrial processes that generate waste heat, and (2) DAC processes that require thermal energy for carbon dioxide release. By combining these processes, the waste heat from industry becomes the thermal source for DAC, eliminating the need for separate energy inputs and improving overall energy efficiency while maintaining capture productivity.
2Loss of energy
If waste heat from industrial processes is utilized for carbon dioxide separation, then energy efficiency improves, but additional system components and integration complexity are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs the DAC system with multi-functional components that serve multiple purposes. The sorbent material not only captures carbon dioxide during the adsorption phase but also serves as the thermal storage medium during the thermalization phase. The integrated system allows the same infrastructure to handle both carbon dioxide capture and waste heat utilization, reducing the need for additional specialized components and simplifying system integration.
3Productivity
If heat pump assemblies are used to transfer thermal energy from waste heat sources, then carbon dioxide separation efficiency improves, but device complexity and initial energy requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs heat pump assemblies that utilize phase change of the refrigerant (from liquid to gas and back) to transfer thermal energy efficiently. This phase change mechanism allows the heat pump to move large amounts of thermal energy with relatively small input work, improving carbon dioxide separation efficiency while minimizing the complexity and energy requirements of the heat pump system itself.
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
This integrated system efficiently captures and separates carbon dioxide from the air using waste heat, reducing operational costs and improving the overall energy efficiency of the DAC process, while also providing a potential revenue stream through carbon dioxide utilization in applications like CO2-EOR.
Implementation Method 1
a refrigerant fluid thermally coupled to the heating fluid, the refrigerant fluid including a thermal energy from at least a portion of the heat from the source of heat from the heating fluid
Implementation Method 2
the refrigerant fluid including a thermal energy from at least a portion of the heat from the source of heat from the heating fluid and a heat of compression of the at least one thermodynamic cycle
Implementation Method 3
a direct air capture (DAC) system that includes a carbon dioxide source material thermally coupled to the refrigerant fluid to receive at least a portion of the thermal energy to separate carbon dioxide from the carbon dioxide source material
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques for providing carbon dioxide include generating thermal energy, an exhaust fluid, and electrical power from a power plant; providing the exhaust fluid and the generated electrical power to an exhaust fluid scrubbing system to separate components of the exhaust fluid; capturing heat from a source of heat of an industrial process in a heating fluid; transferring the heat of the industrial process captured in the heating fluid to a carbon dioxide source material of a direct air capture (DAC) system; providing the generated electrical power from the power plant to the DAC system; providing the thermal energy from the power plant to the DAC system; and separating, with the transferred portion of the heat of the industrial process and the provided thermal energy, carbon dioxide from the carbon dioxide source material of the DAC system.