cryogenic carbon capture?

[Renaud de RICHTER]

Thermodynamic Model of CO2 Deposition in Cold Climates

• Sandra K. S. Boetcher, Matthew J. Traum, Ted von Hippel

link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-019-02587-3

A thermodynamic model, borrowing ideas from psychrometric principles, of a cryogenic direct-air CO₂-capture system utilizing a precooler is used to estimate the optimal CO₂ removal fraction to minimize energy input per tonne of CO₂. Energy costs to operate the system scale almost linearly with the temperature drop between the ingested air and the cryogenic desublimation temperature of CO₂, driving siting to the coldest accessible locations. System performance in three Arctic/Antarctic regions where the proposed system can potentially be located is analyzed. Colder ambient temperatures provide colder system input air temperature yielding lower CO₂ removal energy requirements. A case is also presented using direct-sky radiative cooling to feed colder-than-ambient air into the system. Removing greater fractions of the ingested CO₂ lowers the CO₂ desublimation temperature, thereby demanding greater energy input for air cooling. It therefore is disadvantageous to remove all CO₂ from the processed air, and the optimal mass fraction of CO₂ desublimated under this scheme is found to be ~0.8-0.9. In addition, a variety of precooler effectiveness (ε ) values are evaluated. Increasing effectiveness reduces the required system power input. However, beyond ε = 0.7, at certain higher values of desublimated CO₂ mass fraction, the CO₂ begins to solidify inside the precooler before reaching the cryocooler. This phenomenon fouls the precooler, negating its effectiveness. Further system efficiencies can be realized via a precooler designed to capture solidified CO₂ and eliminate fouling.

CO₂ desublimation thermodynamics cryogenics Arctic/Antarctica 

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