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Israel. Many other applications for CO2 exist including notable converting it into carbon fibre. The company is dedicated to maximizing implementation rather than profit because of the great impact it can have on our futures.TECHNOLOGY OPERATION: EACH PLANT IS A SERIES OF MODULESThe basic operational steps of the GT capture system are:Step 1: Air InputAmbient air is driven through the monolith contactors to adsorb CO2. Contactors (the inner surface of the monoliths) provide high surface contact areas at low pressure drop: enabling movement of large volumes of air with effective contact of CO2 without needing to apply too much force, keeping operating cost down. Step 2: Carbon CaptureGT’s proprietary sorbent (polymer impregnated within the monoliths) captures the CO2. Effective even though CO2 is so dilute in the air(400ppm). Step 3: Desorption and RegenerationCO2-rich sorbent is heated with low-temperature process heat steam (85-105 °C). The steam serves multiple roles: heat source, pressure front, and sweep gas. It strips the CO2 from the monoliths, where it is collected and piped away for use. Step 4: Heat Management Steam condensate is flash evaporated off of the hot regenerated monoliths and condenses on an adjacent bed that just finished Step 2 to preheat it.The clean, emptied sorbent and cooled down monolith is now ready to repeat the process, capturing more CO2.The principal advantages and characteristics of the GT system:Provides Carbon: can be monetized as a replacement for fossil fuels Low Capital CostsScalable Design: highly modular design Low Variable Cost Breakthrough: powered by free or low-cost, widely available residual process heat`Slashes Transportation Costs: can be produced where usedCarbon Negative Solution: Captured CO2 can be sequestered in carbon fibre building materials that can replace steel, aluminum, and concrete and cost less Integration into upstream energy production or downstream CO2 utilization provides low temperature heat at low cost and low incremental carbon footprint. When the co-founders of GT Graciela Chichilnisky (author of the carbon market of the UN Kyoto Protocol) and Dr Peter Eisenberger approached their lead investor Edgar Bronfman Jr. seven years ago and told him their idea, he said: ‘This is too good to be true and usually things that are too good to be true do not work out.’ Seven years later, with increasing support from him and others it is now clear that it is true. All that the leaders of the world need to do is to join them and the many firms GT is working with to make it a reality. As Dr Eisenberger’s article in this publication describes, doing so will not be a cost to the world economy but rather the switch to a Renewable Energy and Materials Economy will issue in together a period of an unprecedented global prosperity, energy security and climate stability. ■References1NOAA is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/news/7074.htmlGLOBAL THERMOSTAT DIRECT AIR CAPTURE PROCESSEvaporative CoolingDesorptionSteamAdsorptivePreheatingAdsorptionHeat from HumidityDilute CO2 Containing Dilute CO2 Containing StreamStreamCCO2 = CCO2, inCCO2 < CCO2, inVacuumExtracted CO2 CyclicAdsorptiveCO2 CaptureINNOVATION TECHNOLOGY 103
