Apparatus and method for oxygen and carbon dioxide enrichment of atmospheric air

An apparatus for direct air capture of gas components from an ambient environment, the apparatus comprising:

• a shell-less membrane unit comprising a selective barrier having a shell-less side and an opposite side, wherein the shell-less side of the selective barrier is at atmospheric pressure and the opposite side is at a first pressure other than atmospheric pressure, resulting in a pressure differential across the selective barrier, wherein the first pressure is at a pressure lower than atmospheric pressure or at a pressure higher than atmospheric pressure, wherein the side of the selective barrier, be it either the opposite side or the shell-less side, having the higher pressure is exposed to a first concentration of fast gas components and a first concentration of slow gas components, wherein a portion of fast gas components and a portion of slow gas components flow through the selective barrier to form a permeate stream on the side of the selective barrier with the lower pressure as a result of the pressure differential across the selective barrier, wherein the permeate stream comprises a second concentration of fast gas components and a second concentration of slow gas components, wherein the second concentration of fast gas components is greater than the first concentration of fast gas components and the second concentration of slow gas components is less than the first concentration of slow gas components;
• and
• a pressure differential device which applies the pressure differential across the selective barrier of the shell-less membrane unit, the pressure differential device selected from the group consisting of a liquid ring vacuum system, a reciprocating compressor system, a centrifugal blower system, and a bellows tank.