DIRECT AIR CAPTURE DEVICE

Abstract

Separation station (1) with a plurality of separation units (34) for separating carbon dioxide and/or water vapour from ambient air, wherein each separation unit (34) comprises at least one contiguous and sealing circumferential wall circumferentially enclosing at least one cavity (24), said at least one contiguous and sealing circumferential wall defining an upstream opening (35) and an opposed downstream opening (36), said cavity (24) containing at least one gas adsorption structure (25) for adsorbing said at least one gaseous component, preferably under ambient pressure and/or temperature conditions, wherein said plurality of separation units (34) is arranged in at least one essentially vertical collector wall structure (2), laterally enclosing one single common separation station cavity (21), and wherein to the upper side, said separation station cavity (21) is covered and closed by at least one cover unit (1) with at least one air propelling device (10).

Claims

1-15. (canceled)

16. A separation station (1) with a plurality of stationary separation units (34) for separating carbon dioxide and/or water vapour from ambient air, wherein each separation unit (34) comprises at least one contiguous and sealing circumferential wall circumferentially enclosing at least one cavity (24), said at least one contiguous and sealing circumferential wall defining an upstream opening (35) and an opposed downstream opening (36), said cavity (24) containing at least one gas adsorption structure (25) for adsorbing said at least one gaseous component, including under ambient pressure and/or temperature conditions, wherein said plurality of separation units (34) is arranged in at least one essentially vertical collector wall structure (2), laterally enclosing one single common separation station cavity (21), wherein to the upper side, said separation station cavity (21) is covered and closed by at least one cover unit (1) with at least one air propelling device (10), and wherein the separation station (1) comprises at least 3 separate essentially flat collector walls (2), wherein each collector wall (2) comprises at least 4 separation units (34) arranged in a regular array of vertical columns (23) and horizontal rows (17).

17. The separation station (1) according to claim 16, wherein said vertical collector wall structure (2) takes the form of a vertically oriented polygonal prism with 3-8 essentially flat collector walls (2).

18. The separation station (1) according to claim 16, wherein said vertical collector wall structure takes the form of a vertically oriented, regular, polygonal prism having 3-8, and wherein at and/or between adjoining vertical edges of said collector walls (2) vertical members (3) are provided, acting as pillar stands for the separation station (1).

19. The separation station (1) according to claim 16, wherein the separation station (1) comprises in the range of 4-8 or 4-6 separate essentially flat collector walls (2).

20. The separation station (1) according to claim 16, wherein the cover unit (1) comprises a plurality of air propelling devices, in the form of fans (10), wherein each propelling device is fluidly connected with the common separation station cavity (21) in that flow is permitted between the openings (36) of all separation units (34), which openings (36) are facing the common separation station cavity (21), and the air propelling devices.

21. The separation station (1) according to claim 20, wherein the separation station (1) comprises a control allowing the plurality of air propelling devices (10) to be controlled in a synchronised manner, including to be started and/or shutdown simultaneously.

22. Separation station (1) with a plurality of stationary separation units (34) for separating carbon dioxide and/or water vapour from ambient air, wherein each separation unit (34) comprises at least one contiguous and sealing circumferential wall circumferentially enclosing at least one cavity (24), said at least one contiguous and sealing circumferential wall defining an upstream opening (35) and an opposed downstream opening (36), said cavity (24) containing at least one gas adsorption structure (25) for adsorbing said at least one gaseous component, including under ambient pressure and/or temperature conditions, wherein said plurality of separation units (34) is arranged in at least one essentially vertical collector wall structure (2), laterally enclosing one single common separation station cavity (21), wherein to the upper side, said separation station cavity (21) is covered and closed by at least one cover unit (1) with at least one air propelling device (10), wherein the separation station (1) comprises at least 3 separate essentially flat collector walls (2), wherein each collector wall (2) comprises at least 4 separation units (34) arranged in a regular array of vertical columns (23) and horizontal rows (17), and wherein the separation units (34) of each collector wall (2) further comprise at least one pair of opposing sliding doors (22, 22, 33, 33) for sealing the upstream opening (35) and the downstream opening (36), respectively, of at least one cavity (24), and wherein each pair of opposing sliding doors (22, 22, 33, 33), to open the respective closed cavity (24), is shifted in a direction essentially parallel to the plane of the respective sliding door (22, 22, 33, 33) to uncover the upstream opening (35) and the downstream opening (36), respectively, and to allow for flow-through of gas mixture through the cavity (24).

23. Separation station (1) according to claim 22, wherein each collector wall (2) comprises only one common pair of arrays of sliding doors in the form of a pair of horizontal sliding door rows (22, 22) being shifted in a vertical direction between cycles of adsorption and desorption and to close and open rows of separation units (34), or in the form of a pair of vertical sliding door columns (22, 22) being shifted in a horizontal direction between cycles of adsorption and desorption and to close and open rows of separation units (34).

24. Separation station (1) according to claim 16, wherein all cavities (24) of the separation units (34) contain at least one sorbent cassette (25) which, as a self-supporting unit, can be taken out and/or inserted into a respective cavity (24).

25. Separation station (1) according to claim 16, wherein to the lower side and facing the ground said separation station cavity (21) is covered and closed by at least one bottom cover unit wherein each propelling device is fluidly connected with the common separation station cavity (21) in that flow is permitted between the openings (36) of all separation units (34) facing the common separation station cavity (21) and the air propelling devices, or wherein the separation station (1) comprises a control allowing the plurality of air propelling devices in the bottom cover unit to be controlled in a synchronised manner between the air propelling devices in the bottom cover unit and/or synchronised with the air propelling devices in the cover unit (9).

26. Separation station (1) according to claim 16, wherein it is attached to or encompasses at least one or a plurality of common evacuation units, or one or a plurality of common heating or steam supply unit, or one or a plurality of common collection units for the gaseous component, or one or a plurality of sets of louvres at the upstream side, in each case common for all cavities (24) or for all cavities in one vertical collector wall structure (2).

27. Separation station (1) with a plurality of stationary separation units (34) for separating carbon dioxide and/or water vapour from ambient air, wherein each separation unit (34) comprises at least one contiguous and sealing circumferential wall circumferentially enclosing at least one cavity (24), said at least one contiguous and sealing circumferential wall defining an upstream opening (35) and an opposed downstream opening (36), said cavity (24) containing at least one gas adsorption structure (25) for adsorbing said at least one gaseous component, including under ambient pressure and/or temperature conditions, wherein said plurality of separation units (34) is arranged in at least one essentially vertical collector wall structure (2), laterally enclosing one single common separation station cavity (21), wherein to the upper side, said separation station cavity (21) is covered and closed by at least one cover unit (1) with at least one air propelling device (10), wherein said vertical collector wall structure takes the form of a vertically oriented, regular, polygonal prism having 4-6 essentially flat collector walls (2), and wherein at and/or between adjoining vertical edges of said collector walls (2) vertical members (3) are provided, acting as pillar stands for the separation station (1), wherein either said vertical members (3) downwardly protrude beyond a lower horizontal edge (38) of said collector walls (2) such that below the vertical collector walls (2) there is a free space (5) to the ground, and between the vertical members, the lower horizontal edge (38) of each of said collector walls (2) and the ground, on which the separation station (1) is located, there are contiguous sealing walls, preventing inflow of outside air into the single common separation station cavity (21) from below the vertical collector walls (2), or wherein a lower horizontal edge (38) of said collector walls (2) is essentially aligned with the ground, on which the separation station (1) is located, preventing inflow of outside air into the single common separation station cavity (21) from below the vertical collector walls (2).

28. (canceled)

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0092] Preferred embodiments of the invention are described in the following with reference to the drawings, which are for the purpose of illustrating the present preferred embodiments of the invention and not for the purpose of limiting the same. In the drawings,

[0093] FIGS. 1a)-1d) show a separation station and parts thereof in different views, wherein in FIG. 1a) an isometric view is shown in an oblique viewing angle from the top, in FIG. 1b) the cover unit with fans, in FIG. 1c) a collector wall, and in FIG. 1d) a vertical central cut with schematic indication of the airflow;

[0094] FIGS. 2a)-2e) show a separation station with vertically moving sliding doors and parts thereof in different views, wherein in FIG. 2a) an isometric view in an oblique viewing angle from the top, in FIG. 2b) a vertical cut with the sliding doors closing the upper collector row without sorbent cassettes, in FIG. 2c) a vertical cut with the sliding doors closing the upper collector row with sorbent cassettes, in FIG. 2d) a detailed cut illustrating the supply of the sorbent cavities and in FIG. 2e) a side view with the sliding doors closing the upper collector row;

[0095] FIGS. 3a)-3d) show a separation station with horizontally moving sliding doors and parts thereof in different views, wherein in FIG. 3a) an isometric view in an oblique viewing angle from the top, in b) a vertical cut with the sliding doors closing the rightmost collector sections in the back wall and on the left side without sorbent cassettes, in FIG. 3c) a vertical cut like in FIG. 3b) but with sorbent cassettes, in FIG. 3d) a side view with the sliding doors closing the left most collector sections.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0096] FIGS. 1a)-1d) show a separation station 1 in a schematic representation.

[0097] The separation station 1 comprises four identical modular vertically arranged collector walls 2, which at the edges are connected and carried by vertical members 3 which act as stand posts for the separation station 1. The members 3 have protruding parts 4 by way of which the collector walls 2 and more specifically the lower horizontal edges 38 thereof are distanced from the ground, forming flow-through areas 6 below the collector walls and a free space 5 below the upper part of the separation station 1. There can be bracing 7 to stabilise the whole structure.

[0098] In this case the free space 5 below the upper part of the separation station 1, so below the lower horizontal edge of the collector walls 2, is open for inflow of air. However to optimise the airflow through the collector walls 2, typically this free space 5 is covered by contiguous sealing walls, or the upper part of the separation station 1 may be covered by a horizontal contiguous sealing wall essentially at the level of the lower horizontal edge 38 of the collector walls 2. It is also possible to have a horizontal further collector wall 2 with sorbents closing the separation station cavity 21 to the bottom.

[0099] In these vertical members 3, tubing and/or supply and/or control lines can be located, and in particular the upper part of the vertical members 3 can be provided as grid structures 8. The collector walls 2 enclose one common separation station cavity 21, which to the top is covered by a cover unit 9 with an array of fans 10. In addition this cover unit 9 comprises a support structure 11, and baffle plates 12 and a cover plate 13 in which the fans 10 are mounted. Correspondingly the cover unit 9 essentially seals the common separation station cavity 21 to the top.

[0100] The upper wall 15 of the respective collector wall abuts with the cover unit 9, and the lateral walls 16 are adjoining the vertical members 3, typically the lateral walls have a width which corresponds to the width of the vertical member.

[0101] the common separation station cavity can be closed and sealed to the bottom, essentially at the height of the lower horizontal edge 38 of the walls 2, by a bottom cover plate (not illustrated)

[0102] In each collector wall 2 there is provided a two-dimensional array of 16 square or rectangular separation units 34. Each separation unit 34 has an upstream opening 35, which is facing the outside of the separation station, and a downstream opening 36, which is facing the separation station cavity 21. The separation units 34 are arranged in a regular array forming collector rows 17, specifically an uppermost collector row 17, followed by in a downwards direction and adjacent to an upper collector row 17, followed buy in a downwards direction and adjacent to a lower collector row 17, and terminated to the bottom by an adjacent lowermost collector row 17.

[0103] In the vertical direction these separation units form collector columns 23, specifically (see also FIGS. 2a)-2e)) forming a respective left most collector section 23, followed to the right and adjacent to the left collector row 23, followed to the right and adjacent to the right collector row 23, and to finish the array with the right most collector row 23.

[0104] The airflow in such a separation station 1 is typically structured as illustrated in FIG. 1d), namely the fans 10 withdraw air from the separation station cavity 21 such that it is expelled in a vertical direction illustrated by arrow 20, and such that it is sucked into the separation station cavity 21 in a horizontal direction as illustrated by arrow 19.

[0105] On the upstream side the collector walls and/or the separation units may comprise sets of louvres 18, which can be adjustable to control the direction of airflow.

[0106] More specifically a further example of a separation station is illustrated in FIGS. 2a)-2e). Reference numerals in this set of figures designate the same elements or equivalent elements as already discussed in the context of FIGS. 1a)-1d). In this embodiment, there is provided one common horizontally extending sliding door 22 which at the same time covers one row of separation units 34 in one of the separation walls 2. There is provided a corresponding vertically moving sliding door on the outer side 22 and a vertically moving sliding door on the inner side 22, and those sliding doors are moving in synchrony and parallel to each other at the same height depending on the carbon dioxide capture cycle.

[0107] In the illustration in FIG. 2a) the sliding door in the left front collector wall is in the lowermost position, i.e. covering the lowermost collector row 17, so this collector row or rather the collector units of that collector row are going through steps (b)-(e) as detailed above.

[0108] The collector units of the other rows of that collector wall 2 are going through adsorption according to step (a) as detailed above.

[0109] As illustrated in FIG. 2b), each of the collector units comprises a circumferential set of walls enclosing a sorbent cavity 24. As one can see on the right side of that figure, the sliding doors have a curved convex profile to allow for an increased available vacuum without large thermal mass of the sliding door structure.

[0110] As illustrated in FIG. 2c), in these cavities 24 there are located sorbent cassettes, which for maintenance are provided as separate self-standing structures or a set of separate self-standing structures to be put into these cavities 24.

[0111] The sorbent cassettes 25 may for example comprise individual horizontal or vertical parallel layers coated with carbon dioxide reversibly adsorbing materials or comprise particulate material in corresponding air permeable containers for carbon dioxide adsorption. Materials suitable and adapted for this purpose are in particular primary and/or secondary amine carrying polymer beads, which can be contained in corresponding mesh structures.

[0112] In this example, see also FIG. 2d), horizontally adjacent separation units 34 are directly adjacent and the circumferential wall elements which are adjacent formed by one single wall 31.

[0113] On the other hand vertically adjacent separation unit rows 17 are arranged at a distance leaving an interspace 37 between the rows 17, and in this interspace 37 between the lower horizontal separation wall of the upper sorbent cavity 29 and the upper horizontal separation wall 30 of the lower sorbent cavity there is room for horizontal tubing 26 for the individual separation units and for control of the individual separation units and/or the corresponding sliding doors. This tubing 26 in this way can be ideally connected to the tubing 14 in the vertical members. The tubing 26 is connected to the corresponding separation unit 34 by way of inlets/outlets 27 and corresponding controllable valves 28.

[0114] As one can see from FIG. 2e), the sliding doors 22 are mounted on vertically extending rails 32 which can be mounted on the vertical members 3 or at the lateral edges of the collector wall 2.

[0115] Corresponding motors or more generally drive means for the sliding doors 22 and 22 as well as the corresponding control means can also be located at the lateral edges of the collector wall or in or on the vertical members 3.

[0116] A third example of a corresponding separation station as illustrated in FIGS. 3a)-3d). Again reference numerals in this set of figures designate the same elements or equivalent elements as already discussed in the context of FIGS. 1 a)-1d) and 2a)-2d). In this case there is no joint horizontally extending common sliding door 22, but there is vertical array of sliding doors 33. Again there is a horizontally moving common sliding door on the outer side 33 and a horizontally moving sliding door on the inner side 33, and they move in synchrony in the cycle. Again they can be provided as one single stiff structure so as to simplify the corresponding rail structure, which in this case is provided as air of horizontally arranged rails 32 at the respective upper and lower edge of the respective collector wall 2. But they can also be structured as individual doors, in this case necessitating four pairs of horizontally arranged rails.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0117] 1 separation station [0118] 2 collector wall [0119] 3 vertical member [0120] 4 protruding part of 3 [0121] 5 free space below upper part of 1 [0122] 6 flow-through area between 4 [0123] 7 bracing [0124] 8 upper part of 3, grid structure [0125] 9 cover unit with fans [0126] 10 fan [0127] 11 support structure of 9 [0128] 12 baffle plate of 9 [0129] 13 cover plate of 9 [0130] 14 tubing/supply/control lines in 3 [0131] 15 upper wall of 2 [0132] 16 lateral wall of 2 [0133] 17 collector row [0134] 17 uppermost collector row [0135] 17 upper collector row [0136] 17 lower collector row [0137] 17 lowermost collector row [0138] 18 louvres [0139] 19 essentially horizontal inflow of air [0140] 20 essentially vertical outflow of air [0141] 21 separation station cavity, enclosed space of separation unit [0142] 22 vertically moving sliding door on the outer side [0143] 22 vertically moving sliding door on the inner side [0144] 23 collector column [0145] 23 left most collector row or section of uppermost collector row [0146] 23 left collector row or section of uppermost collector row [0147] 23 right collector row or section row or of uppermost collector row [0148] 23 rightmost collector row or section of uppermost collector row [0149] 24 sorbent cavity [0150] 25 sorbent cassette in separation unit [0151] 26 horizontal tubing [0152] 27 inlet/outlet of 26 [0153] 28 valve [0154] 29 lower horizontal separation wall of upper sorbent cavity [0155] 30 upper horizontal separation wall of lower sorbent cavity [0156] 31 vertical separation walls between sorbent sections [0157] 32 rail for sliding door [0158] 33 horizontally moving sliding door on the outer side [0159] 33 horizontally moving sliding door on the inner side [0160] 34 collector section, separation unit [0161] 35 upstream opening of 34 [0162] 36 downstream opening of 34 [0163] 37 interspace between rows [0164] 38 lower horizontal edge of collector wall