Direct Air Capture-Based Carbon Dioxide Removal with United States Low-Carbon Energy and Sinks

OBrien, Kevin C; Nuber, Dirk; Dietsch, Jason

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/113490 Copy

Description

Title

Direct Air Capture-Based Carbon Dioxide Removal with United States Low-Carbon Energy and Sinks

Author(s)

• OBrien, Kevin C
• Nuber, Dirk
• Dietsch, Jason

Contributor(s)

• Climeworks
• Kiewit Engineering Group Inc.
• Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
• Gulf Coast Sequestration
• North Shore Energy LLC
• SunPower Corporation
• ORMAT Technologies Inc.
• Sentinel Peak Resources

Issue Date

2021-10

Keyword(s)

• Direct air carbon capture
• Carbon dioxide capture
• Carbon dioxide utilization
• CO2 capture
• CO2 utilization

Geographic Coverage

• Wyoming
• Louisiana
• California

Abstract

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will lead a team to develop preliminary designs for large-scale direct air capture (DAC) and storage plants to collect and permanently store carbon dioxide (CO2) at three different facilities located in Wyoming, Louisiana, and California.

The project will utilize DAC technology provided by Climeworks, which captures atmospheric CO2 through a cyclic vacuum-temperature swing adsorption process that utilizes fans to draw air into the plant. A solid amine sorbent adsorbs CO2 from the collected air, then the CO2-depleted air is released back to the atmosphere and the sorbent is regenerated by low-grade heat (approximately 100°C). The captured CO2 is piped underground into a saline aquifer or depleted natural gas reservoir for safe and permanent storage.

This study will examine the effect of various climatic conditions on the DAC system design and overall cost and evaluate the impact of using different low-carbon energy sources (i.e., geothermal, solar, wind, or waste heat). Further, this work will begin to tackle scale-up challenges related to construction, operation, and logistics, as well as gauge the technical and regulatory challenges at each site. The team will prepare a Class IV capital cost and construction estimate and will calculate the volume of CO2 that would provide an economic benefit to storage sites. Techno-economic and life cycle analyses will be performed and the results will feed into a business case assessment for the DAC systems at each host site.

Major partners in the project include Climeworks, Kiewit Engineering Group Inc., Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Gulf Coast Sequestration, North Shore Energy LLC, SunPower Corporation, ORMAT Technologies Inc., and Sentinel Peak Resources.

Initial engineering design studies of commercial-scale carbon capture, utilization, and storage-direct air capture (CCUS-DAC) systems that separate, and store or utilize, a minimum of 100,000 tonnes CO2/year from air will enable the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to gain an understanding of system costs and performance, as well as business case options, for existing DAC technologies, informing research and development efforts that will accelerate the deployment of climate-critical DAC systems. Process designs and implementation plans for CCUS-DAC systems tailored to a geographically diverse series of host sites throughout the U.S. will facilitate an understanding of the effect of local/regional ambient conditions on the overall cost of an integrated system.

Related presentation: Direct Air Capture Facility Development in the United States (Webinar, Institute for Carbon Removal Law and Policy, 2022-Feb-21)

Publisher

U.S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory

Series/Report Name or Number

Direct Air Capture-Based Carbon Dioxide Removal with United States Low-Carbon Energy and Sinks

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

Permalink

• https://netl.doe.gov/project-information?p=FE0032100
• http://hdl.handle.net/2142/113490

Sponsor(s)/Grant Number(s)

U.S. Department of Energy ; DE-FE0032100

Owning Collections