Removing carbon dioxide from air in sufficient quantities could provide breathing space while we create a green economy. Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have discovered a new way to do this at virtually any concentration level. The process involves passing contaminated air between pairs of charged electrical plates. Volume is obtained by stacking these pairs of specialized batteries.
Scenarios for Removing Carbon Dioxide from Air
MIT postdoc student Sahag Voskian developed the technology during his PhD and posted the Vimeo. T. Alan Hatton, Ralph Landau Professor of Chemical Engineering worked with him, and provided support.
They say their method suits a wide variety of applications. For example, it could remove dense pollution from a coal power station stack. or a diesel peaking generator. It could also remove lighter concentrations of carbon dioxide from the air we breathe if at sufficient scale.
An Exciting New Application for Battery Technology
Sahag Voskian’s method for removing carbon dioxide from air uses a specialized battery to remove the gas. First, it absorbs the pollutant as it passes over the electrodes during the charging cycle. And then it releases the pure concentrated gas during the discharging cycle for disposal.
We suppose it’s a bit like breathing in and out. “This binary affinity allows capture of carbon dioxide from any concentration,” explains Sahag Voskian “This includes 400 parts per million, and allows its release into any carrier stream, including 100 percent CO2.” His method is also energy-efficient compared to other technologies. That’s because it uses about one gigajoule of energy per ton of carbon dioxide consistently captured.
Removing carbon dioxide from air in this way certainly seems to hold promise. However, we should not slow the migration from fossil fuels because of their other environmental disadvantages.
Related
Battery Converting CO2 to Electrical Energy
Reverse Engineer Carbon from CO2 Gas
Preview Image: New Way to Remove Carbon Dioxide from Air
Vimeo Link: https://vimeo.com/368583616
