REMOVAL OF CARBON DIOXIDE FROM AIR
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present disclosure provides a method and apparatus for removing a contaminant, such as carbon dioxide, from a gas stream, such as ambient air. The contaminant is removed from the gas stream by a sorbent, which is regenerated in a regeneration unit either by utilizing a thermal swing or a humidity swing or a combination thereof. Heat is conserved in the present disclosure by employing a heat exchanger to transfer heat from the regenerated sorbent to an amount of sorbent that is loaded with the contaminant prior to regeneration. The heat exchanger may employ water or another fluid as a refrigerant to draw heat from the regenerated sorbent and transferring that heat to the loaded sorbent.
134 Citations
60 Claims
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1-19. -19. (canceled)
- 20. A method for capturing carbon dioxide from a gas stream, comprising passing the gas stream in contact with a sorbent to absorb carbon dioxide, releasing capture CO2 from said sorbent to form a gas mixture having enhanced concentration of carbon dioxide, and using an amount of liquid nitrogen or liquid air to cool the gas mixture, thereby condensing out a component of the gas mixture.
- 23. A method for capturing carbon dioxide from a gas stream, comprising passing the gas stream in contact with a sorbent to absorb carbon dioxide, regenerating the sorbent via a humidity swing to form a gas mixture substantially comprising carbon dioxide and water vapor, and condensing the water vapor out of the gas mixture by first absorbing heat into a separate water supply and then absorbing additional heat into a heat sink containing a supply of liquid nitrogen, liquid carbon dioxide, or liquid air.
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36. A method for removing and sequestering a contaminant contained in a gas stream, comprising:
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bringing said gas stream in contact with a sorbent material, wherein the contaminant attaches to the sorbent material; wetting the sorbent material to release the contaminant to an off-stream; and removing water vapor from the off-stream by passing the off-stream through an evaporative cooling chamber, wherein the off-stream is cooled by the evaporation of a fluid external to said evaporative cooling chamber. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 46)
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47. A method for the collection of CO2 from air, comprising the steps of exposing a module comprising a sorbent material to ambient air, thereby capturing CO2 on said sorbent material;
- and releasing captured CO2 from said sorbent material, characterized by one or more of the following features;
(a) wherein said module collects one ton of CO2 per day; (b) wherein said module collects 0.25 mol of CO2 per second; (c) wherein said sorbent material has a packing density of about 100 kg per cubic meter; (d) wherein a kilogram of said sorbent material is capable of exhaling several hundred liters of CO2 at a backpressure of 0.1 bar; and (e) producing a gas mixture comprising water vapor and CO2, each with a partial pressure between 1 kPa and 10 kPa;
- and releasing captured CO2 from said sorbent material, characterized by one or more of the following features;
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48. A method for the collection of CO2 from air, comprising the steps of exposing a sorbent material to ambient air;
- treating water to form a treated liquid water; and
releasing captured CO2 by contacting said sorbent material with said treated water. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50, 51, 52)
- treating water to form a treated liquid water; and
- 53. A method for capturing carbon dioxide from a gas stream, comprising passing the gas stream in contact with a sorbent to absorb carbon dioxide, regenerating the sorbent to form a gas mixture comprising carbon dioxide and water vapor, and compressing released CO2 using a refrigeration medium.
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57. A method for removing and sequestering a contaminant contained in a gas stream comprising:
- bringing said gas stream in contact with a sorbent material, wherein the contaminant attaches to the sorbent material;
wetting the sorbent material to release the contaminant to an off-stream; and
passing the off-stream through an evaporative cooling chamber, wherein the off-stream is cooled by the evaporation of contaminated water external to said evaporative cooling chamber. - View Dependent Claims (58, 59, 60)
- bringing said gas stream in contact with a sorbent material, wherein the contaminant attaches to the sorbent material;
Specification