Removal of carbon dioxide from air
AssigneeKilimanjaro Energy, Inc.
InventorsKlaus S. Lackner, Allen B. Wright
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Abstract
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for removing a contaminant, such as carbon dioxide, from a gas stream, such as ambient air. The contaminant is removed from the gas stream by a sorbent which may be regenerated using a humidity swing, a thermal swing, or a combination thereof. The sorbent may be a substrate having embedded positive ions and individually mobile negative ions wherein the positive ions are sufficiently spaced to prevent interactions between the negative ions. Where a thermal swing is used, heat may be conserved by employing a heat exchanger to transfer heat from the regenerated sorbent to an amount of sorbent that is loaded with the contaminant prior to regeneration.
Claims16
A method for removing carbon dioxide from a gas stream, comprising
- placing said gas stream in contact with a substrate having a surface in which cations are physically embedded, wherein anions which are individually mobile are included on said surface, and wherein carbon dioxide from said gas stream becomes attached to said substrate by reacting with said anions;
- and
- releasing the carbon dioxide from said substrate to a contained environment by use of a humidity swing.
A method of extracting CO2 from a gas stream comprising exposing a sorbent to said gas stream so as to at least partially saturate said sorbent with CO2, and releasing said captured CO2 so as to regenerate said sorbent, wherein said sorbent comprises positive ions that are immobile and spaced such that carbonate ions are unstable in the presence of two single positive charges, and further wherein said sorbent is a metal oxide or metal hydroxide.
A method of extracting CO2 from a gas stream comprising exposing a sorbent to said gas stream so as to at least partially saturate said sorbent with CO2, and releasing said captured CO2 so as to regenerate said sorbent, wherein said sorbent comprises positive ions that are immobile and spaced such that carbonate ions are unstable in the presence of two single positive charges, and further wherein said sorbent is a zeolite.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.