STEP 3 GTS - The Giant Scrubber
Introduction
The major problem with removing Carbon Dioxide from the atmosphere is its extreme dilution; its concentration of 330 parts per million means that only one molecule in 3000 is CO2. The GTS overcomes that handicap by using a diaphragm to increase the concentration by a factor of ten or more. Molecular sieve materials are common in the chemical industry, but some development work will be needed to combine their properties with a carbon fibre base, resulting in a strong and flexible material which exhibits preferential blocking (or transmission) of CO2 molecules relative to N2 and O2. Either configuration can be engineered to produce vast amounts of air with enhanced CO2 content using windpower alone. A tenfold enrichment (1:300) should be initially achievable, with further improvements as the technology matures. These diaphragms are shaped into Wind Sox as shown below. The enriched air is then compressed in several stages to 3bar by wave-powered machinery. This process is highly energy intensive, so needs to be piggy-backed onto a power user, eg the Cold Water Miner. The compressed air is continuously contacted with seawater mist with normal (330ppm) CO2 content, thus stripping the air CO2 down to say 500ppm. This rich seawater is then pumped to the ocean depths at a location where it will take 000's of years to be returned to the surface as part of the natural carbon cycle.

Giant Scrubber Click on the image for a larger view

Continued