Negative-Emissions Enabled Direct Air Capture with Coupled Electro-Production of Hydrogen at a 5 kg-per-hour Scale
The electrochemical-based CO2 capture and green H2 production technology captures carbon directly from the air or can be applied as a polishing step from point sources, targeting a regenerator for simultaneous carbon recovery, hydrogen production and solvent regeneration at an operating potential of 2.5 V or less via electrode material selection, membrane architectures, electrode surface and fluid channel design, operational mode, depolarization, and gas bubble formation/detachment enhancement towards minimizing energy consumption per CO2 captured and recovered and per Hydrogen generated. The direct air capture (DAC) absorber features catalytic-function absorber elements, can include hydroxide-selective technologies and more for enhanced and facile capture and subsequent low-cost solvent regeneration and enhanced carbon recovery while targeting low-pressure drop requirements for large-volume air processing in DAC and leveraging wind-pumping operation mode with a near-term target of ~40 Tonnes CO2/year and a 2-year target of 3500 Tonnes/year via scale-up. Our approach will demonstrate negative emissions including solar, wind, and hydro renewable power sources with battery energy storage courtesy of PPL Corporation.
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