(371ab) Energy and Cost Analysis of Direct Air Capture Using Laminate Structured Gas-Solid Contactors

Direct air capture (DAC) is a scalable approach for removing atmospheric carbon and will play a significant role in limiting global warming if implemented on a large scale. However, the extent of its practical scalability remains uncertain due to nascent state of technology advancement and the substantial initial expenses for establishing an initial plant. This study provides a foundation for understanding the complex interplay between the system design parameters and the system performance in developing DAC system using laminate structured gas-solid contactors, coupled with steam-assisted temperature swing adsorption (S-TVSA). A process-model based techno-economic analysis enabled the initial investigation of the significance of a range of design parameters for the air/sorbent contactor on overall system performance. In this study, the key contactor geometrical parameters were varied to understand the trade-offs between CO₂ productivity and system energy consumption. Next, a detailed parametric study was conducted to study the impact of process operational parameters on the system performance in S-TVSA. Translating the CO₂ productivity and the energy consumption of the proposed DAC systems into the cost of capture using a simple cost model, this study showed that the main cost driver changes substantially depending on the process conditions, but the operating cost dominated the cost of capture on the Pareto front. The proposed DAC systems have the potential to operate under 150 $/tonne CO₂ captured within the system design space studied.