Shakouri Kalfati & Abdulla (2025): An open-source dynamic model for direct air capture of carbon dioxide using solid sorbents
Milad Shakouri Kalfati and Ahmed Abdulla, IN: Carbon Capture Science and Technology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccst.2025.100516
Averting the worst consequences of climate change requires decarbonizing the global energy system and deploying carbon dioxide removal technologies, including the direct air capture of CO₂. To estimate the cost and performance of the latter technologies, climate and energy system analysts need numerical process models that are validated with experimental data. Existing process models often limit reconfiguration that accommodates different design choices or restrict modelling to steady-state conditions. However, ambient environmental conditions like temperature, humidity, pressure, and inlet CO₂ concentration vary, affecting capture. This study develops an open-source process model for direct air capture using solid sorbents. Starting from first principles, this model allows users to select facility sizes, sorbents, other design parameters, and locations to simulate the capture performance of a solid sorbent direct air capture plant. More importantly, users can incorporate climate data to determine site-specific performance. Here, model validation is presented for two cold-climate sorbents that are being proposed for nations in northern latitudes.