CN-122028969-A - Techniques for direct air carbon capture using seawater

Abstract

According to various embodiments, a carbon capture system includes a renewable power source, an electrolysis chamber that generates chlorine (Cl), hydrogen (H), and aqueous sodium hydroxide (NaOH) from a sodium chloride (NaCl) solution using electrical energy from the renewable power source, a mixing chamber that generates an aqueous sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO 3 ) solution by mixing air containing CO 2 and the aqueous NaOH solution, and a CO 2 extraction chamber that generates CO 2 by combining the aqueous NaHCO 3 solution with hydrogen chloride (HCl).

Inventors

• Valin jessica

Assignees

• 瓦林·西卡

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20241023

Priority Date

20241022

Claims (20)

1. 1. A carbon capture system, comprising: A renewable power source; An electrolysis chamber that generates chlorine (Cl), hydrogen (H), and aqueous sodium hydroxide (NaOH) from a sodium chloride (NaCl) solution using electrical energy from the renewable power source; a mixing chamber for generating an aqueous sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO 3 ) solution by mixing air containing CO 2 and the aqueous NaOH solution, and A CO 2 extraction chamber that produces CO 2 by combining the aqueous NaHCO 3 solution with hydrogen chloride (HCl).
2. 2. The carbon capture system of claim 1, wherein the CO 2 extraction chamber further generates a NaCl solution when combining the NaHCO 3 solution with the HCl.
3. 3. The carbon capture system of claim 1, wherein the renewable power source comprises at least one of a wind turbine, a hydropower plant, a geothermal power plant, a pumped-hydro power generation unit, a battery, a hydropower plant, or a geothermal power plant.
4. 4. A carbon capture system as in claim 3 wherein the pumped-storage hydro power generation unit is powered by at least one of a solar array or a wind turbine.
5. 5. The carbon capture system of claim 1, wherein the electrolysis chamber comprises a chamber for forming the HCl using the Cl and the H generated by the electrolysis chamber.
6. 6. The carbon capture system of claim 1, further comprising a receiving chamber that receives seawater and generates the NaCl solution from the seawater.
7. 7. The carbon capture system of claim 6, wherein the receiving chamber generates the NaCl solution by filtering the seawater.
8. 8. The carbon capture system of claim 1, further comprising a first holding chamber for storing the HCl.
9. 9. The carbon capture system of claim 8, wherein the first holding chamber receives the HCl from the electrolysis chamber.
10. 10. The carbon capture system of claim 1, further comprising a second holding chamber for storing the aqueous NaOH solution.
11. 11. The carbon capture system of claim 10, wherein the second holding chamber receives the aqueous NaOH solution from the electrolysis chamber.
12. 12. The carbon capture system of claim 10, wherein the second holding chamber comprises a corrosion resistant container for the aqueous NaOH solution.
13. 13. The carbon capture system of claim 1, wherein the electrolysis chamber generates the aqueous NaOH solution via a membrane-based electrolysis process.
14. 14. The carbon capture system of claim 1, wherein the mixing chamber comprises a sensor for detecting sodium carbonate (NaHCO 3 ) in the aqueous NaHCO 3 solution.
15. 15. The carbon capture system of claim 1, wherein the Cl generated by the electrolysis chamber comprises chlorine gas (Cl 2 ) and the H generated by the electrolysis chamber comprises H 2 gas.
16. 16. The carbon capture system of claim 1, further comprising a CO 2 storage chamber fluidly coupled to the CO 2 extraction chamber.
17. 17. A method of carbon capture, the method comprising: Generating an aqueous solution of chlorine (Cl), hydrogen (H) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) from a sodium chloride (NaCl) solution using electrical energy from a renewable power source; Generating aqueous sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO 3 ) by mixing air containing CO 2 with the aqueous NaOH solution, and CO 2 is produced by combining the aqueous NaHCO 3 solution with hydrogen chloride (HCl).
18. 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the aqueous NaOH solution is generated via a membrane-based electrolysis process.
19. 19. The method of claim 17, further comprising generating a NaCl solution upon combining the NaHCO 3 solution with the HCl.
20. 20. The method of claim 17, further comprising detecting sodium carbonate (NaHCO 3 ) in the aqueous NaHCO 3 solution.

Description

Techniques for direct air carbon capture using seawater Cross Reference to Related Applications The present application claims the priority of U.S. provisional patent application entitled "ADDITIONAL TECHNIQUES FOR LOW-POWER, LARGE SCALE DIRECT AIR CAPTURE" and Ser. No. 63/592,531 filed on day 23 of 10 in 2023, and claims the priority of U.S. patent application entitled "TECHNIQUES FOR DIRECT-AIR CAPTURE OF CARBON USING SEAWATER" and Ser. No. 18/923,466 filed on day 22 of 10 in 2024. The subject matter of these related applications is hereby incorporated by reference. Technical Field Various embodiments relate generally to carbon capture technology, and more particularly to systems for direct air carbon capture using seawater. Background Global warming is becoming a serious problem facing contemporary and offspring according to many scientific studies. Many people claim that the main contributor to global warming is the human extension of the "greenhouse effect" in which the earth's atmosphere traps heat that would otherwise radiate from the earth to space. Different gases contributing to the greenhouse effect (referred to herein as "greenhouse gases") include water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide, and carbon dioxide. Many scientists believe that the most serious impact of global warming can be prevented by reducing human-based greenhouse gas emissions and reducing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the earth's atmosphere at present. For this reason, one technology being developed to address global warming is direct air carbon capture, where carbon dioxide is captured and removed from the earth's atmosphere. Direct air carbon capture generally involves attempts to remove large amounts of carbon dioxide from the earth's atmosphere by adsorption/desorption processes. In many direct air carbon capture implementations, the ambient air is exposed to a suitable adsorbent, such as an amine-based material, which then adsorbs the carbon dioxide present in the ambient air. The adsorbed carbon dioxide is then released from the adsorbent via a desorption process for subsequent storage. In order for direct air carbon capture or any other process to be a viable method to reduce greenhouse effect, the process of removing carbon dioxide from the earth's atmosphere needs to result in negative greenhouse gas emissions. That is, the amount of greenhouse gases produced when generating the energy required to perform a direct air carbon capture process must be less than the amount of greenhouse gases removed from the earth's atmosphere by the direct air carbon process. One disadvantage of conventional direct air carbon capture processes is that these processes typically require a significant amount of energy, including the thermal energy required to release carbon dioxide during desorption, and the fan energy required to direct ambient air onto the adsorbent material. Thus, to achieve a negative greenhouse gas emission process, conventional direct air carbon capture facilities are typically located at or near large renewable energy sources, such as geothermal reservoirs, solar power plants, or sites for wind farms. Such location constraints prevent the direct air carbon capture process from being widely implemented, which limits the effectiveness of direct air carbon capture in combating global warming. Another disadvantage of conventional direct air carbon capture processes is that the suitable adsorbent materials required to remove millions of tons of carbon dioxide produced annually from the atmosphere are not readily available in large quantities. As exemplified above, what is needed in the art is a more efficient technique for direct air carbon capture. Disclosure of Invention According to various embodiments, a carbon capture system includes a renewable power source, an electrolysis chamber that generates chlorine (Cl), hydrogen (H), and aqueous sodium hydroxide (NaOH) from a sodium chloride (NaCl) solution using electrical energy from the renewable power source, a mixing chamber that generates an aqueous sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO 3) solution by mixing air containing CO 2 and the aqueous NaOH solution, and a CO 2 extraction chamber that generates CO 2 by combining the aqueous NaHCO 3 solution with hydrogen chloride (HCl). At least one technical advantage of the disclosed designs over the prior art is that the disclosed designs enable direct air carbon capture without the need for conventional adsorbent materials (such as amine-based materials). Instead, sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution is electrolytically generated from seawater and is subsequently used to chemically react with CO 2 in air. Another technical advantage is that any renewable energy source may be used to power a direct air carbon capture process implemented using the disclosed designs. A further technical advantage is that the direct air carbon capture process implemented using the disclosed designs does not require fan energy, which enables the process t