The EU project eREGENERATE (REsistive heatinG in structured hydrophobic sorbents for a highly EfficieNt and fully Electrified DiRect Air CapTurE technology) has the goal to develop a novel Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology based on cost effective and long-lasting sorbents, as well as a novel fully electrified process technology. The project will elaborate on a roadmap to ensure scale up and deployment of eREGENERATE technology in the European and Canadian markets. The industrial DAC partner in the consortium, Removr, plans to deploy the innovations in their large-scale DAC plants. More specifically, the project aims at addressing current DAC challenges using four key innovations. The first innovation involves synthesizing and scaling up hydrophobic zeolites, a sorbent with a long lifetime, capable of capturing CO2 at low concentrations and in the presence of water (i.e., humid air), to ensure high capturing performance coupled with low manufacturing cost. The second innovation introduces an electrically conductive substrate on which the zeolite will be coated, giving low pressure drop (hence low energy consumption in adsorption) and fast heating of the adsorbent bed to desorb the CO2. The third innovation is a new electrical swing process, fully powered by renewable energy. The fourth innovation is a first-of-a-kind algorithm able to optimise the complete chain of capture and conditioning of the CO2, as well as assessment of the energy source mix and weather impact on it, to overcome the strong energy intensity of the capture process and optimise both energy input and purity in between the capture process and the conditioning step. Further, to ensure the technology’s success and societal acceptance, a structured stakeholder engagement process will be elaborated all along the technological development to co-create strategies, including policy and incentives, to align DAC deployment with societal priorities.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Elias Klemm and apl. Prof. Dr. Yvonne Traa of the Institute of Technical Chemistry are the principal investigators of the University of Stuttgart in the project with their experience in adsorption kinetics and the tailoring of zeolitic materials. They will develop together with SINTEF the hydrophobic sorbents, which should have a higher water tolerance with stable DAC performance so that the thermal regeneration of the zeolite can be avoided in a pre-bed configuration for dehumidification. Core/shell structures with a hydrophilic core and a hydrophobic shell will be made, e.g., with mild dealumination procedures. In addition, the University of Stuttgart will in a joint activity with Johnson Matthey coat these sorbents onto electrically heatable coupons for testing. These results are later transferable to monoliths for the pilotscale testing.
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