HOME
LINKEDIN
Direct Air Capture Facility
Integrated Design Project 2: 71%
Role: Group leader with the highest acknowledged contribution in a team of 5 members spanning from mechanical civil and electrical engineering disciplines.
Skills Devevloped: Project Management, CAD, Material Science and Chemistry, Operations Engineering, Concept Design, Risk Assessments, BOM Generation and Sourcing, Report Writing.
2nd Year Mechanical Engineering Group Project
2023
Direct air capture (DAC) facilities capture carbon dioxide quicker than the ecosystems and occupy less space compared to plants and trees. This project aimed to build a DAC facility in Chennai and Osaka capturing 5000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year and storing them underground below saline acquifers.
I was in charge of concept developing, research on absorption technology using potassium hydroxide, and systematic processes amongst absorption, desorption, transportation and storage of carbon dioxide. I also conducted calculations to obtain ideal dimensions and parameters for the absorption units and suction fans before composing CAD design.
Overview of Initial Facility Design
Or
Scroll for Project Overview
Scroll for Project Overview
BRIEF OVERVIEW
PART A
Functional Analysis (How Does It Work?)
Facility Concept Design 1
To capture 5000 tons of CO2 a year in Chennai, a total volumetric flow rate of 676.7 m3/s is needed, requiring 28 suction fans with a diameter of 1.4 m and 25 m3/s. This allowed us to calculate the energy requirement 26,455.2 and 3968.3 MWh for the suction fans and solvent pumps respectively. 9070 tonnes of Potassium Hydroxide (KOH) would also be required in the process, yet considering the reusability of KOH from the desorption process, fewer is demanded to achieve the action.
Final Design (For Osaka)
Detailed Drawings
Air contactor is constructed of 12 intake fans, each fan rotates at a speed of 380rpm, the fans are powered by three motors with an energy output of 7.5 kW at 1000rpm. The fans should be capable of stresses of approximately 173.2 MPa each, due to the force of the impellers. Desorption process uses Sodium hydroxide and calcium hydroxide (NaOH), as these are less impactful on the environment and had more preferred advantages. The liquid passes through PVC filters to absorb the CO2. From which it can be extracted, compressed and transported. The pipeline consisting of 222.3mm internal diameter pipe, travelling 11km to the port. Once the CO2 has been transported to the port, it is first liquefied from where it is stored in a large tank at port. Once every 33 days, it is loaded onto the Coral Carbonic (CO2 carrier) which transports it to the storage site Donghae 1. It takes 11 trips to transport 5000 metric tonnes per year.