Process Operability Analysis of Membrane-Based Direct Air Capture for Low-Purity CO2 Production

Addressing climate change constitutes one of the major scientific challenges of this century, and it is widely acknowledged that anthropogenic CO2 emissions largely contribute to this issue. To achieve the "net-zero" target and keep the rise in global average temperature below 1.5 °C, negative emission technologies must be developed and deployed at a large scale. This study investigates the feasibility of using membranes as direct air capture (DAC) technology to extract CO2 from atmospheric air to produce low-purity CO2. In this work, a two-stage hollow fiber membrane module process is designed and modeled using the AVEVA Process Simulation platform to produce a low-purity (≈5%) CO2 permeate stream. Such low-purity CO2 streams could have several possible applications such as algae growth, catalytic oxidation, and enhanced oil recovery. An operability analysis is performed by mapping a feasible range of input parameters, which include membrane surface area and membrane performance metrics, to an output set, which consists of CO2 purity, recovery, and net energy consumption. The base case for this simulation study is generated considering a facilitated transport membrane with high CO2/N2 separation performance (CO2 permeance = 2100 GPU and CO2/N2 selectivity = 1100), when tested under DAC conditions. With a constant membrane area, both membranes' intrinsic performances are found to have a considerable impact on the purity, recovery, and energy consumption. The area of the first module plays a dominant role in determining the recovery, purity, and energy demands, and in fact, increasing the area of the second membrane has a negative impact on the overall energy consumption, without improving the overall purities. The CO2 capture capacity of DAC units is important for implementation and scale-up. In this context, the performed analysis showed that the m-DAC process could be appropriate as a small-capacity system (0.1-1 Mt/year of air), with reasonable recoveries and overall purity. Finally, a preliminary CO2 emissions analysis is carried out for the membrane-based DAC process, which leads to the conclusion that the overall energy grid must be powered by renewable sources for the technology to qualify within the negative emissions category.

Membrane Separation Technology in Direct Air Capture

Direct air capture (DAC) is an emerging negative CO2 emission technology that aims to introduce a feasible method for CO2 capture from the atmosphere. Unlike carbon capture from point sources, which deals with flue gas at high CO2 concentrations, carbon capture directly from the atmosphere has proved difficult due to the low CO2 concentration in ambient air. Current DAC technologies mainly consider sorbent-based systems; however, membrane technology can be considered a promising DAC approach since it provides several advantages, e.g., lower energy and operational costs, less environmental footprint, and more potential for small-scale ubiquitous installations. Several recent advancements in validating the feasibility of highly permeable gas separation membrane fabrication and system design show that membrane-based direct air capture (m-DAC) could be a complementary approach to sorbent-based DAC, e.g., as part of a hybrid system design that incorporates other DAC technologies (e.g., solvent or sorbent-based DAC). In this article, the ongoing research and DAC application attempts via membrane separation have been reviewed. The reported membrane materials that could potentially be used for m-DAC are summarized. In addition, the future direction of m-DAC development is discussed, which could provide perspective and encourage new researchers' further work in the field of m-DAC.

Controlling Microstructure-Transport Interplay in Poly(ether-block-amide) Multiblock Copolymer Gas Separation Membranes

In this study, we investigated the effect of morphology on the gas-transport properties of a poly(ether-block-amide) (PEBA) multiblock copolymer. We annealed the copolymer samples and varied the annealing temperature to evaluate the influence of changes in the microstructure on the gas transport properties of PEBA. In addition, we used time-resolved attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to evaluate the diffusion coefficient of CO2 in PEBA based on the Fickian model. The effect of the annealing temperature on the microphase-separated structure of the multiblock copolymer is discussed in detail. Furthermore, the gas diffusivity was significantly affected by the purity of the soft domains. The annealed sample demonstrated a 38% increase in CO2 permeability while maintaining a high CO2/N2 permselectivity of approximately 53. The findings of this study provide valuable insight into the design and optimization of PEBA membranes for gas separation applications.

Robust, Hyper-Permeable Nanomembrane Composites of Poly(dimethylsiloxane) and Cellulose Nanofibers

Robust, nanometer-thick, permselective membranes were developed by composite formation from poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) and cellulose nanofibers (CNF). Their unique behavior is discussed in relation to that of a single-component PDMS nanomembrane. In the absence of the CNF component, the PDMS nanomembrane with a thickness of 34 nm displays ultrahigh permeability of CO₂ gas, which is only ca. one order of magnitude smaller than that of free-flowing gases through a porous poly(acrylonitrile) support film (PAN, thickness 150 μm). The constant CO₂/N₂ selectivity observed for the whole range of membrane thickness (34 nm-10 μm) suggests that in the single-component membrane, the kinetic process at the membrane surface determines the permselective behavior. Multilayered composite membranes are obtainable by repeated spin coating. The mechanical weakness of the single-component PDMS membrane is improved by complexation with CNF, as confirmed by the bulge test and the ease of macroscopic handling. Such a robust PDMS-CNF nanomembrane gives superior permeation of 50,000 GPU with a defect-free PDMS layer of ca. 17 nm thickness. Interestingly, the permeation characteristics of the composite membrane are strongly affected by the asymmetric arrangement of PDMS and CNF layers, and the gas permeation from the side of the CNF layer is drastically reduced. The PDMS composite membrane is expected to provide practically useful systems as a means of direct air capture.

A new strategy for membrane-based direct air capture

Direct CO2 capture from the air, so-called direct air capture (DAC), has become inevitable to reduce the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. Current DAC technologies consider only sorbent-based systems. Recently, there have been reports that show ultrahigh CO2 permeances in gas separation membranes and thus membrane separation could be a potential new technology for DAC in addition to sorbent-based CO2 capture. The simulation of chemical processes has been well established and is commonly used for the development and performance assessment of industrial chemical processes. These simulations offer a credible assessment of the feasibility of membrane-based DAC (m-DAC). In this paper, we discuss the potential of m-DAC considering the state-of-the-art performance of organic polymer membranes. The multistage membrane separation process was employed in process simulation to estimate the energy requirements for m-DAC. Based on the analysis, we propose the target membrane separation performance required for m-DAC with competitive energy expenses. Finally, we discuss the direction of future membrane development for DAC.

Critical Role of the Molecular Interface in Double-Layered Pebax-1657/PDMS Nanomembranes for Highly Efficient CO2/N2 Gas Separation

In this work, we deposited a CO₂-selective block copolymer, Pebax-1657, as a selective layer with a thickness of 2-20 nm on the oxygen plasma-activated surface of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) used as a gutter layer (thickness ∼400 nm). This double-layered structure was subsequently transferred onto the polyacrylonitrile (PAN) microporous support and studied for CO₂/N₂ separation. The effect of interfacial molecular arrangements between the selective and gutter layers on CO₂ permeance and selectivity has been investigated. We have revealed that the gas permeance and selectivity do not follow the conventional theoretical predictions for the multilayer membrane (resistance in series transport model); specifically, more selective CO₂/N₂ separation membranes were achieved with ultrathin selective layers. Detailed characterization of the chemical structure of the outermost membrane surface suggests that nanoscale blending of the ultrathin Pebax-1657 layer with O₂ plasma-activated PDMS chains on the surface takes place. This nanoblending at the interface between the selective and gutter layers played a critical role in enhancing the CO₂/N₂ selectivity. CO₂ permeances in the developed thin-film composite membranes (TFCM) were between 1200 and 3500 gas permeance units (GPU) and the respective CO₂/N₂ selectivities were between 72 and 23, providing the gas separation performance suitable for CO₂ capture in postcombustion processes. This interpenetrating polymer interface enhanced the overall selectivity of the membrane significantly, exceeding the separation ability of the pristine Pebax-1657 polymer.