Last year, Climeworks announced the launch of its ground-breaking Orca direct air capture (DAC) and storage plant.
Read more: ‘World’s largest’ direct air capture and storage plant comes onstream in Iceland
Located in Iceland, the plant can capture 4,000 tonnes of CO2 per year by filtering the gas directly from the air.
This process involves CO2 collectors selectively capturing the gas by being drawn into the collector by a fan.
Once inside the collector, the CO2 is captured on the surface of a highly selective filter and – once saturated – the collector is closed and the temperature is raised to 80-100C, releasing and capturing the pure CO2.
Climeworks receives the “Innovation in Vacuum Busch Award 2021” for its innovative use of vacuum technology to remove CO2
The filtered CO2 is then extracted using Busch’s MINK claw vacuum pumps before being mixed with water and injected underground into basalt rock by Climeworks’ partner Carbfix.
Over time, the CO2 mineralises within the rock and is permanently and safely sequestered.
Busch’s MINK claw vacuum pump
First presented in 2013 by Busch Vacuum Solutions (Busch), the Innovation in Vacuum Busch Award recognises individuals or companies that make use of vacuum technology to benefit the environment.
Climeworks is set to further its decarbonisation goals following its announcement in June that it has started working on its new DAC and storage facility, Mammoth.
Utilising a recent equity raise of $650m, the company plans to scale-up its operations and become a multi-megatonne capacity factility by 2030 and gigatonne capacity by 2050.
Read more: Climeworks embarks on ‘Mammoth’ direct air capture project