I-Corps: Direct air capture and sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO2)

Award ID: 2228351

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the potential development of a low-cost direct air carbon capture and sequestration technology. To combat climate change and meet climate goals, a large-scale ramping up of technologies for direct air capture and removal of carbon dioxide may be needed. There is a strong commercial interest for low energy cost, inexpensive, and scalable solutions to reduce carbon dioxide. The proposed technology may respond to this market demand by offering a permanent, verifiable, and low-cost solution for removing carbon dioxide from the air. In addition, the proposed technology simultaneously may upcycle landfilled industrial wastes as carbon-negative cementitious material which may help to reduce the environmental footprint of cement production. Because the waste impoundments are often located in low-income and underserved communities, commercialization of the technology may provide economic benefits to these communities. This I-Corps project is based on the development of a technology that utilizes industrial waste materials to directly capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. The CO2 is then stored as a stable mineral. The proposed technology is based on a two-step mineral carbonation method that utilizes alkali carbonate solutions as intermediary reagents to extract alkalinity from solid mineral waste feedstocks. This method stems from fundamental research on mineral dissolution and carbonation, which led to the discovery that mineral dissolution may be significantly enhanced under alkaline conditions in the presence of alkali carbonates. By synergistically enhancing mineral dissolution and solution pH, hydroxide solutions similar to those used by the current state-of-the-art strong hydroxide liquid-based direct air capture processes may be rapidly generated from the solid feedstock under ambient conditions. Direct coupling of mineral carbonation to direct air capture eliminates capital and energy intensive units, such as the calciner, slaker, and compressor, potentially minimizing the energy use and capital cost for direct removal of carbon dioxide from the air. In addition, because the mineral carbonation process proceeds through a gel-mediated dissolution/precipitation mechanism, the carbonated mineral feedstocks show enhanced pozzolanic properties, which may allow them to be upcycled as cementitious materials. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Program Director: Jaime A. Camelio