MOF Sorbents for CO2 Removal from Submarines

Current submarine air revitalization systems use liquid and/or solid amine-based carbon dioxide (CO2) removal technologies. These materials use amine chemistry to capture CO2 at room temperature and the material is regenerated using heat and vacuum to restore its original chemical state for use in subsequent cycles. 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 proposes to develop a high capacity, water stable nano-engineered adsorbent to remove CO2 from submarine atmospheres. We will screen these materials based on their CO2 capacity, selectivity and removal efficiency. We will show that the sorbent retains its activity for adsorption and regeneration cycles under mild thermal swing, vacuum swing and concentration swing cycles (a minimum of 10,000 cycle test will be carried out in Phase I and another 10,000 cycles during the Option Effort). We will estimate the cost of producing the sorbent, and CO2 scrubbing system as installed on and Ohio-replacement submarine. We will estimate the consumable requirements and parasitic power losses.