Engineers at the University of Delaware have developed a method to capture 99% of CO2 from the air. The researchers say their soda-can-sized prototype device is capable of filtering about 10 liters of air per minute and removing about 98% of CO2. The team’s prototype is designed to remove CO2 from vehicle exhaust, although it could also be used for a number of other applications, including aircraft, spacecraft, and submarines. A new study by scientists at the University of Washington shows that a species of common mosquito flies toward certain colors, including red, orange, black, and blue when it detects the tell-tale gas we exhale.
Engineers at the University of Delaware have demonstrated a way to efficiently remove 99% of CO2 from the air using a new hydrogen-powered electrochemical system. This is an important step forward in carbon capture that could bring cleaner fuel cells closer to the market. Fuel cells work by converting the chemical energy of a fuel directly into electricity. The research team, led by Professor Yan Yushan from the State University of New York, explained their technique in the journal Nature Energy (February 3).
“We can capture 99% of carbon dioxide from the air in a single pass if we have the right design and configuration,” Yan said. So how did they do it? They found a way to turn the power supply for the electrochemical technology inside. separating membrane. And with this electrically shorted inner membrane, we were able to eliminate bulky components like bipolar plates, current collectors, or any electrical wire normally found in a fuel cell stack. While not possible with a fuel cell, the researchers knew that if they could take advantage of this integral “self-cleaning” process in a separate device upstream of the fuel cell stack, they could turn it into a carbon anhydride separator.
In fact, Nature Energy was born out of the failure of another research project. It also allowed the team to build a compact spiral module with a large surface area in a small volume. CES’ patented oxy-fuel technologies provide cleaner and more efficient co-generation of captured energy, steam, water, and CO2 and offer the world a new perspective on how we value natural resources.
Using a biomass fuel that consumes CO2 over its lifetime to produce energy and then safely and permanently stores the produced CO2, the process is designed to generate net negative carbon emissions by effectively removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. As described in the journal Nature Energy, the new system could also help commercially produce sustainable fuel cells.
