(628e) Design of Passive Contactor Systems for Direct Air Capture

Direct air capture (DAC) is a negative emission technology (NET) for removing CO₂ from the atmosphere to maintain the CO2 level within a reasonable range so as to address greenhouse effects. 3D printing technology has been widely used in producing devices in consequence of the flexible design and rapid prototyping. In this project, 3D printed (3DP) contactors loading with polyethylenimine (PEI) are employed for passive, wind-driven, DAC. Multidimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models are developed to explore the effects of feed wind speed, contactor geometry and porosity distribution, and contactor layout on the wind bypass around the contactors. A 2D process model is then developed by coupling momentum transfer, mass transfer and heat transfer to conduct process design and optimization. Optimization of adsorbent capacity and enthalpy, contactor design, and operating conditions of adsorption and desorption cycles is important to minimize the overall capital and operating costs of the passive contacting systems while reaching a promising productivity. The results of this optimization will be discussed in the talk.