2024 R&D Award for APEX CDR - Amino acid Process for EXtreme Carbon Dioxide Removal

An ORNL team developed a direct air capture, or DAC, process developed as a possible solution to global warming. Called APEX CDR, it employs environmentally benign amino acid-based solvents for DAC of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This scalable process employing aqueous solvents of amino acid salt solutions, such as potassium sarcosinate, with ethylene or triethylene glycol additives to extract carbon dioxide directly from air, boasts competitive carbon dioxide uptake capacities with relatively low energy requirements at extreme temperatures.

Solvent additives, including ethylene or triethylene glycol, allow the amino acid-based solvents to be effective even at extreme temperatures without freezing. These solvents exhibit competitive energy requirements. The performance of DAC solvents is an area often overlooked despite regions with sub-ambient temperatures comprise a significant portion of the Earth's surface. This process offers significant advancements in efficiency, scalability and economic viability of amino acid-based DAC technologies, paving the way for their widespread implementation in combating climate change.

This research was funded by ORNL Laboratory Directed Research and Development funds through DOE’s Office of Science.

Developing the technology were ORNL scientists Costas Tsouris, Radu Custelcean, Abishek Kasturi, Gyoung Gug Jang, Diāna Stamberga, Aye Meyer, Amiee Jackson, Jonathan Willocks, Scott D. Palko, David S. Sholl; Anca Timofte of Holocene; Jorge Gabitto of Prairie View A&M University; and Dhruba Deka of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Holocene is a Cohort 2022 Innovation Crossroads participant.