New high-performing carbon capture system could transform industry

A new highly efficient carbon capture system has been invented by researchers at Tokyo Metropolitan University which has wide implications for the industry.

A team led by Professor Seiji Yamazoe have found that the chemical isophorone diamine (IPDA) could remove carbon dioxide at the low concentrations found in the atmosphere with 99% accuracy.

IPDA is reusable with minimal heating and works twice as fast as existing systems, making the development the fastest project in the world to process carbon dioxide at low concentrations.

This will help scientists with ‘beyond zero’ ambitions, who wish to go further than net-zero goals and actively reduce the amount of carbon dioxide there is in the atmosphere.

It will also aid the carbon capture industry, which is developing rapidly, but has issues with implementing technologies at scale.

Most current systems struggle to process carbon dioxide in the atmosphere directly, since chemical reactions with the low concentrations tend to be slow.

There is also difficulty with getting the carbon dioxide out in more sustainable capture-and-desorption systems which can be highly energy intensive.

Direct air capture (DAC) systems usually bubble air through liquid, but as the reaction goes on the reaction product builds up in the liquid resulting in slower and slower subsequent reactions.

But scientists have shown that by using liquid-solid phase separation, the reaction product becomes insoluble and comes out as a solid, leading to faster reaction times.

The solid then only needs to be heated to 60º to completely release the carbon dioxide captured.

Researchers are now focusing on improving their system further, before exploring how the captured carbon could be sued effectively in industrial applications and household products.

In related news, a contributing author to the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report has highlighted the need for agriculture to play a role in removing carbon from the atmosphere. 

Photo by Marcin Jozwiak