DEVICES, SYSTEMS, FACILITIES AND PROCESSES FOR CO2 CAPTURE/SEQUESTRATION AND DIRECT AIR CAPTURE

Abstract

Devices, systems, facilities, and processes for direct air capture combined with carbon capture for reducing the overall emissions are disclosed herein. An exemplary system may include a first air blower configured to move a CO.sub.2 containing gas through a carbon capture unit; the carbon capture unit configured to separate and capture CO.sub.2 from the CO.sub.2 containing gas to generate a first CO.sub.2 rich stream; a second air blower configured to move an air from an air-cooled heat exchanger to a direct air capture unit; the direct air capture unit configured to capture CO.sub.2 from the air from the air-cooled heat exchanger to generate a second CO.sub.2 rich stream; and a sequestration compression unit configured to compress the first and second CO.sub.2 rich streams.

Claims

1. A system comprising: a first air blower configured to move a CO.sub.2 containing gas through a carbon capture unit; the carbon capture unit configured to separate and capture CO.sub.2 from the CO.sub.2 containing gas to generate a first CO.sub.2 rich stream; a second air blower configured to move an air from an air-cooled heat exchanger to a direct air capture unit; the direct air capture unit configured to capture CO.sub.2 from the air from the air-cooled heat exchanger to generate a second CO.sub.2 rich stream; and a sequestration compressor configured to compress the first and second CO.sub.2 rich streams.

2. The system of claim 1 further comprising at least one meter configured to measure a content of CO.sub.2 in at least one of the first CO.sub.2 rich stream or the second CO.sub.2 rich stream.

3. The system of claim 1 further comprising a first cooler configured to cool the air from the air from the air-cooled heat exchanger and/or a first condenser configured to condense the air from the air from the air-cooled heat exchanger before the air from the air from the air-cooled heat exchanger reaches the direct air capture unit.

4. The system of claim 3 further comprising a second cooler configured to cool the CO.sub.2 containing gas and/or a second condenser configured to condense the CO.sub.2 containing gas before the air from the air from the CO.sub.2 containing gas reaches the carbon capture unit.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein at least one of the first cooler, the second cooler, or the air-cooled heat exchanger may be a direct contact cooler.

6. The system of claim 1 further comprising a dehydration unit to remove water from the air from the air-cooled heat exchanger.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the sequestration compressor is configured to convey the compressed first and second CO.sub.2 rich streams to a sequestration site.

8. The system of claim 1 further comprising a waste heat recovery unit configured to recover heat from at least one of an industrial process or the sequestration compressor, and the waste heat recovery unit is further configured to provide the recovered heat to at least one of the carbon capture unit or the direct air capture unit.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the waste heat recovery unit comprises a duct firing unit configured to increase at least one of a temperature or a mass flow of the CO.sub.2 containing gas.

10. The system of claim 8 comprising a gas to air exchanger configured to cool a hot flue gas from the waste heat recovery unit.

11. The system of claim 1 further comprising a heater configured to provide heat to at least one of the carbon capture unit or the direct air capture unit.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the sequestration compressor comprises a gas driven compressor, and a flue gas from the gas driven compressor is sent to the carbon capture unit.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0036] Understanding that the figures depict only typical embodiments of the disclosure and are not to limit the scope of the present disclosure, the present disclosure is described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying figures. The figures are listed below.

[0037] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary schematic of a combined direct air capture and carbon capture facility with the CO.sub.2 rich gas from the facility being sent to sequestration/storage.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] The detailed description is exemplary only and does not describe every possible embodiment, as describing every possible embodiment would be impractical, if not impossible. One of ordinary skill in the art could implement numerous alternate embodiments, which would still fall within the scope of the present disclosure. Unless a term is expressly defined herein, there is no intent to limit the meaning of that term beyond its plain or ordinary meaning. To the extent that any term is referred to in a manner consistent with a single meaning, that is done for the sake of clarity only, and it is not intended that such term be limited to that single meaning.

[0039] All percentages expressed herein are by weight of the total weight of the composition unless expressed otherwise. As used herein, “about,” “approximately” and “substantially” are understood to refer to numbers in a range of numerals, for example the range of -10% to +10% of the referenced number, preferably -5% to +5% of the referenced number, more preferably -1% to +1% of the referenced number, most preferably -0.1% to +0.1% of the referenced number. All numerical ranges herein should be understood to include all integers, whole or fractions, within the range. Moreover, these numerical ranges should be construed as providing support for a claim directed to any number or subset of numbers in that range. For example, a disclosure of from 1 to 10 should be construed as supporting a range of from 1 to 8, from 3 to 7, from 1 to 9, from 3.6 to 4.6, from 3.5 to 9.9, and so forth.

[0040] As used in this disclosure and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “an ingredient or “the ingredient” means “at least one ingredient” and includes two or more ingredients.

[0041] The words “comprise,” “comprises” and “comprising” are to be interpreted inclusively rather than exclusively. Likewise, the terms “include,” “including” and “or” should all be construed to be inclusive, unless such a construction is clearly prohibited from the context. Nevertheless, the compositions disclosed herein may lack any element that is not specifically disclosed herein. Thus, a disclosure of an embodiment using the term “comprising” includes a disclosure of embodiments “consisting essentially of” and “consisting of” the components identified. A composition “consisting essentially of” contains at least 75 wt. % of the referenced components, preferably at least 85 wt. % of the referenced components, more preferably at least 95 wt. % of the referenced components, most preferably at least 98 wt. % of the referenced components.

[0042] The terms “at least one of” and “and/or” used in the respective context of “at least one of X or Y” and “X and/or Y” should be interpreted as “X,” or “Y,” or “X and Y.” For example, “at least one of honey or chicory root syrup” should be interpreted as “honey without chicory root syrup,” or “chicory root syrup without honey,” or “both honey and chicory root syrup.”

[0043] Where used herein, the terms “example” and “such as,” particularly when followed by a listing of terms, are merely exemplary and illustrative and should not be deemed to be exclusive or comprehensive.

[0044] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary schematic of a direct air capture and carbon capture facility 100 with the flue gas from the facility being sent to sequestration/storage.

[0045] A CO.sub.2 containing gas stream generated from an industrial process, a process gas, or a flue gas 101 typically may be the result of combustion and/or processing of hydrocarbons and contain between about 2% and about 40% CO.sub.2. The industrial process may be any industrial process that generates a CO.sub.2 containing gas stream. The industrial process may be an LNG process. This gas stream may be sent to a waste heat recovery unit 114 to remove heat energy from the gas stream. The gas stream may then be sent to a blower 102. The blower 102 may drive this gas stream to a cooler and/or a condenser 103 to be cooled and/or condensed.

[0046] The gas stream driven by blower 102 or the cooled/condensed gas stream from the cooler/condenser 103 may be sent to a carbon capture unit 104 for CO.sub.2 removal from the gas stream to generate a CO.sub.2 rich stream. The CO.sub.2 may be captured through a commercially available capture process in the carbon capture unit 104.

[0047] The CO.sub.2 rich stream from the carbon capture unit 104 may be sent to a meter or prover 105 to be measured before being sent to a sequestration compression unit 111 for compression. The sequestration compression unit 111 may then send the compressed CO.sub.2 rich stream to a sequestration site 112.

[0048] The ambient air used for cooling various plant processes may be sent to one or more air-cooled heat exchangers 106. The air downstream of the one or more air-cooled heat exchangers 106 may be a wet air. The air from the one or more air-cooled heat exchangers 106 may be collected in ducting and sent to a blower 107. The blower 107 may drive the air from the one or more air-cooled heat exchangers 106 to a cooler/condenser 108. The cooled/condensed air may be a dry air. The dry air may be sent to a direct air capture unit 109.

[0049] There may be a dehydration unit 113 upstream of the cooler/condenser 108 and/or the direct air capture unit 109. The blower 107 may drive the air from the one or more air-cooled heat exchangers 106 to the dehydration unit 113 to dry the air before sending the dry air to the cooler/condenser 108 and/or the direct air capture unit 109.

[0050] The air from the carbon capture Unit 104 may also be sent to the cooler/condenser 108 and then further sent to the direct air capture unit 109. Alternatively or additionally, the air from the carbon capture Unit 104 may be sent to the direct air capture unit 109 directly. The cooler/condenser 109 may be separate from the cooler/condenser 103.

[0051] The direct air capture unit 109 may be configured to capture CO.sub.2 from the air from the one or more air-cooled heat exchangers 106 to generate a CO.sub.2 rich stream. The CO.sub.2 rich stream from the carbon capture unit 104 and the CO.sub.2 rich stream generated from the air capture unit 109 may be combined together before being sent to the sequestration compressor 111 to be compressed and sequestrated.

[0052] The CO.sub.2 rich stream generated from the direct air capture unit 109 may be sent to a meter/prover 110 to be measured and then combined with the CO.sub.2 from the meter/prover 105.

[0053] The sequestration compressor 111 may be configured to compress the CO.sub.2 rich stream generated from at least one of the carbon capture unit 104 or the direct air capture unit 109. The sequestration compressor 111 may be configured to convey the compressed CO.sub.2 rich streams to a sequestration site.

[0054] The sequestration compressor 111 may comprise a gas driven compressor. A flue gas from the gas driven compressor may be sent to the carbon capture unit 104.

[0055] The waste heat recovery unit 114 may be configured to recover heat from the industrial process 114 and to provide the recovered heat to at least one of the carbon capture unit or the direct air capture unit. The waste heat recovery unit 114 may comprise duct firing to produce additional heat in the waste heat recovery unit.

[0056] There may be a heater 115 configured to provide heat to at least one of the carbon capture unit or the direct air capture unit.

[0057] At least one of the coolers 103, 108, or the air-cooled heat exchanger 106 may be a gas to air exchanger configured to cool a hot flue gas from the waste heat recovery unit 114.

[0058] The gas to air exchanger may be configured to cool the hot flue gas from the waste heat recovery unit 114 with a flow of ambient air. The cooled flue gas may be sent to the air blower 107 and onward to the direct air capture unit 107.

[0059] The flow of ambient air may be a counter flow of ambient air from an existing air cooler configured to cool a gas or liquid in the industrial process 101. The existing air cooler may be additional to or separate from any or all of the coolers 103, 108, and the air-cooled heat exchanger 106.

[0060] At least one of the coolers 103, 108, the air-cooled heat exchanger 106, or the existing air cooler may be a gas to air exchanger or a direct contact cooler. At least one of the coolers 103, 108, the air-cooled heat exchanger 106, or the existing air cooler may be electric or steam driven.

[0061] Each aspect, feature, and/or embodiment of the present disclosure may be combined with any other aspect, feature, and/or embodiment of the present disclosure unless specified otherwise.

[0062] The many features and advantages of the present disclosure are apparent from the written description. Further, since numerous modification and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, the present disclosure is not limited to the exact construction and operation as illustrated and described. Therefore, the described embodiments should be taken as illustrative and not restrictive, and the disclosure should not be limited to the details given herein. Each aspect of the present disclosure may be combined with any other aspect described herein unless specified otherwise.