Domestic researchers have developed a technology that directly captures carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and recovers it at high purity. It is expected to be a turning point for responding to the climate crisis and carbon reduction technologies.
Park Young-cheol, a lead researcher at the Korea Institute of Energy Technology (KETI) CCS research team, noted that they succeeded in directly capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere using a newly developed dry absorbent and recovering it at an average high concentration of 96.5%.
Currently, the concentration of carbon dioxide in South Korea's atmosphere is continuously increasing. After surpassing 400 ppm (parts per million) for the first time in 2013, it rose to 427 ppm by 2023. As a result, the average annual temperature in South Korea also increased by 1.1 degrees Celsius during the same period, accelerating climate change.
Recently, direct air capture (DAC) technology aimed at reducing carbon dioxide spread in the atmosphere has gained attention. DAC technology utilizes dry absorbents that selectively absorb carbon dioxide. Once the absorbent captures the carbon dioxide, the gas is separated in a high-temperature environment of over 100 degrees, recovering high-purity carbon dioxide. Generally, amine-based absorbents, a type of organic compound, are used; however, the strong binding force between amines and carbon dioxide requires a high amount of energy during the separation process and decreases durability at high temperatures.
To address this, the research team developed a new amine-based dry absorbent 'SMKIER-1.' Existing absorbents required a lot of energy to release carbon dioxide due to the strong binding force between amines and carbon dioxide. The researchers added cyclic compound additives to the amines, reducing the binding strength while still protecting the amines.
By applying the developed absorbent in the process and conducting continuous operation verification for over 350 hours, it was possible to recover carbon dioxide at a purity of 96.5% from 1 kg of carbon dioxide per day. Successfully capturing 1 kg of atmospheric carbon dioxide with a recovery rate exceeding 96% and operating continuously for 350 hours is a first in the country.
The research team plans to conduct process verification capable of capturing 10 kg of carbon dioxide per day within this year. Following that, they plan to scale up to 200 kg and secure commercialization technology by 2030. Through this, they expect to establish demonstration facilities capable of capturing over 1,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually by 2035.
Lead researcher Park Young-cheol stated, 'We have taken the first step toward a technology that can reduce millions of tons of carbon dioxide annually in Korea,' and added, 'It can make a significant contribution to the global effort toward carbon neutrality.'