PyBIG-Enhanced Liquid Sorbent Direct Air Capture

The pressing need to combat climate change and transition towards a more sustainable future demands the implementation of carbon capture technology. Anthropogenic carbon dioxide has accumulated in the atmosphere since the industrial revolution, inducing adverse climate change effects. Current atmospheric CO
2
must be removed to avoid rising sea levels, low agricultural productivity, and high-frequency extreme weather events. Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies like direct air capture (DAC) have proved challenging due to CO
2
'S low atmospheric concentration of 421 ppm and have remained economically unfeasible at industrial scale. Current DAC systems rely on technologies such as liquid sorbent media, membrane filtration, and/or solid adsorbent media. These technologies were evaluated against each other, and a modified liquid sorbent media process was selected as the best available design. This process is enhanced by adding an amino guanidine compound 2,6-pyridine-bis(aminoguanidine) (PyBIG) in an intermediate crystallization step which lowers energy inputs and improves sorbent regeneration. Research was conducted to develop an improved method for sustainable, efficient, and economically viable modular direct air carbon capture using PyBIG. Although DAC includes two steps-atmospheric capture and long-term storage of CO
2
-the scope of the research only included enhancement of the capture process, specifically researching the previous challenges of PyBIG utilization, and integrating PyBIG into an autonomous CDR module.