Flexibility in adsorption-based direct air capture: drivers, mechanisms, and research needs
Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering, vol. 54, pp. 101296
Abstract
Direct Air Capture (DAC) is key for net-zero goals, but its high energy demand and costs prevent large-scale deployment. Leveraging time-varying external drivers — renewables availability, electricity prices, ambient conditions, and downstream CO 2 demand — offers a promising pathway to improve its cost-effectiveness. We define flexibility in DAC as the ability to operate under time-varying boundary conditions while maintaining adequate performance. We distinguish between flexibility by design (inherent robustness) and flexibility by operation (dynamic adaptation). Focusing on adsorption-based DAC, we classify flexibility mechanisms into system-level and process-level approaches. Key needs include dynamic modeling, integration of temporal variability in experiments, and multi-scale frameworks linking process and systems.
Authors 4
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Affiliation as printed
Institute of Technical Thermodynamics, RWTH Aachen University, Schinkelstraße 8, 52062 Aachen, Germany
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Matteo Gazzani corresponding
Utrecht University · Eindhoven University of Technology
Affiliation as printed
Inorganic Membranes and Membrane Reactors, Sustainable Process Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven 5600, the Netherlands
Utrecht University, Princetonlaan 8a, Utrecht 3584 CB, the Netherlands
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Affiliation as printed
Institute of Technical Thermodynamics, RWTH Aachen University, Schinkelstraße 8, 52062 Aachen, Germany
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Affiliation as printed
Institute of Technical Thermodynamics, RWTH Aachen University, Schinkelstraße 8, 52062 Aachen, Germany
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