Advanced Materials for Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Capture

Current submarine air revitalization systems use liquid and/or solid amine-based carbon dioxide (CO2) removal technologies. The legacy hardware, using the liquid amines, is prone to scaling and other complications from the use of a liquid. These solvents also have a short lifetime which requires frequent replacement, and generates hazardous material wastes that are complicated to handle.TDA Research is developing a high capacity, water stable nano-engineered adsorbent to remove CO2 from submarine atmospheres. In the Phase I effort, we showed that the sorbent retains its activity over 10,000 adsorption and regeneration cycles and demonstrated stable sorbent performance in the presence of moisture (50% RH at 72°F). We also carried out the design of a CO2 removal system that makes use of our adsorbent, for an Ohio-class submarine, supported by a detailed trade-off analysis. In Phase II work, we will work onto elevate the technical maturity of the new sorbent (as well as the process around it) to TRL 5. Our primary focus will be in the optimization and scale-up of the sorbent and establish a fully documented process that will produce the quantities of the sorbent needed by the Navy at a low cost.