Experimental Campaign with a 1 Kg/Day Fixed Bed Dac Unit Using Solid Amines

10 Pages Posted: 1 Dec 2022

See all articles by Michel Schellevis

Michel Schellevis

University of Twente - Sustainable Process Technology

Wim Brilman

University of Twente - Sustainable Process Technology

Date Written: November 30, 2022

Abstract

Direct air capture is an important technology to enable net zero CO2 emission technologies. It provides a sustainable carbon source, namely CO2 from air, to use as feedstock for various CO2 utilization technologies, such as cultivation of microalgae. A direct air capture pilot unit is designed and constructed at the University of Twente with a targeted capacity of 1 kgCO2/day. It utilized adsorption with supported-amine sorbents in four parallel fixed bed reactors. This study evaluates the performance of the pilot unit during continuous operation at a microalgae cultivation facility where the captured CO2 is used as feedstock for microalgae cultivation. In the reported campaign, 49 consecutive adsorption-regeneration cycles were performed with a total operation time of more than one week. On average, the CO2 production capacity matched the targeted capacity at 1.0 kgCO2/day with a CO2 working capacity of 0.57 molCO2/kgs. The energy duty was estimated at 19 MJ/kgCO2, with sensible heat for the regeneration at increased temperature is the major contributor. A clear day-night difference was observed. The productivity increased during the night when the temperature is low and relative humidity is high. Algae cultivation was carried out in a 300-litre tubular photobioreactor with pH control via injection of CO2. During the entire experimental campaign, the pH was regulated successfully using the CO2 harvested from air. Overall, we conclude that providing concentrated CO2 by locally using direct air capture as sustainable carbon source for the cultivation of microalgae is demonstrated successfully and is ready for further upscaling and implementation.

Suggested Citation

Schellevis, Michel and Brilman, Wim, Experimental Campaign with a 1 Kg/Day Fixed Bed Dac Unit Using Solid Amines (November 30, 2022). Proceedings of the 16th Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies Conference (GHGT-16) 23-24 Oct 2022, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4290007 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4290007

Michel Schellevis

University of Twente - Sustainable Process Technology ( email )

Postbus 217
Twente
Netherlands

Wim Brilman (Contact Author)

University of Twente - Sustainable Process Technology ( email )

PO Box 217
Enschede, 7500AE
Netherlands

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
164
Abstract Views
399
Rank
348,269
PlumX Metrics