Patents Assigned to CLIMEWORKS AG
  • Patent number: 11944931
    Abstract: Separation station (1) with a plurality of separation units (34) for separating carbon dioxide and/or water vapour from ambient air, wherein each separation unit (34) comprises at least one contiguous and sealing circumferential wall circumferentially enclosing at least one cavity (24), said at least one contiguous and sealing circumferential wall defining an upstream opening (35) and an opposed downstream opening (36), said cavity (24) containing at least one gas adsorption structure (25) for adsorbing said at least one gaseous component, preferably under ambient pressure and/or temperature conditions, wherein said plurality of separation units (34) is arranged in at least one essentially vertical collector wall structure (2), laterally enclosing one single common separation station cavity (21), and wherein to the upper side, said separation station cavity (21) is covered and closed by at least one cover unit (1) with at least one air propelling device (10).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2023
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: CLIMEWORKS AG
    Inventor: Andri Janett
  • Patent number: 11944932
    Abstract: Separation unit (1) for separating at least one gaseous component from a gas mixture, or arrangement of such separation units, wherein it comprises at least one circumferential wall element(s) (5), said circumferential wall element(s) defining an upstream opening (31) and an opposed downstream opening (32) of at least one cavity (3) containing at least one gas adsorption structure (4) for adsorbing said gaseous component under ambient pressure and/or temperature conditions, or an array of at least two such cavities (3), wherein the separation unit (1) comprises a pair of opposing sliding doors (12) for sealing the openings of a cavity (3) and preferably allowing for evacuating a cavity (3), and wherein the pair of opposing sliding doors (12) can be shifted in a direction essentially parallel to the plane of the respective sliding door (12) and to allow for flow through of gas mixture through the gas adsorption structure (4).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: CLIMEWORKS AG
    Inventors: Roger Suter, Benjamin Megerle, Nicolas Repond, Christoph Gebald, Jan André Wurzbacher
  • Publication number: 20240001281
    Abstract: A method for separating gaseous carbon dioxide from air is proposed by cyclic adsorption/desorption using a sorbent. The method includes the following sequential and in this sequence repeating steps: (a) contacting air with the sorbent to allow gaseous carbon dioxide to adsorb on the sorbent under ambient atmospheric pressure and temperature conditions; (b) isolating the sorbent from the flow-through; (c) inducing an increase of the temperature of the sorbent; (d) extracting the desorbed gaseous carbon dioxide from the unit and separating gaseous carbon dioxide from steam/water; and (e) bringing the sorbent to ambient atmospheric temperature and pressure conditions. The sorbent is a water retaining and/or porous support which before use in the cyclic process has been impregnated or wetted with a solution of a secondary amine compound and the sorbent is loaded by said secondary amine compound by at least 5% by weight.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 30, 2021
    Publication date: January 4, 2024
    Applicant: CLIMEWORKS AG
    Inventors: Igor BABICH, Paul O'CONNOR, Sjoerd DAAMEN, Tobias NIEBEL
  • Publication number: 20230415089
    Abstract: Separation station (1) with a plurality of separation units (34) for separating carbon dioxide and/or water vapour from ambient air, wherein each separation unit (34) comprises at least one contiguous and sealing circumferential wall circumferentially enclosing at least one cavity (24), said at least one contiguous and sealing circumferential wall defining an upstream opening (35) and an opposed downstream opening (36), said cavity (24) containing at least one gas adsorption structure (25) for adsorbing said at least one gaseous component, preferably under ambient pressure and/or temperature conditions, wherein said plurality of separation units (34) is arranged in at least one essentially vertical collector wall structure (2), laterally enclosing one single common separation station cavity (21), and wherein to the upper side, said separation station cavity (21) is covered and closed by at least one cover unit (1) with at least one air propelling device (10).
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 22, 2023
    Publication date: December 28, 2023
    Applicant: CLIMEWORKS AG
    Inventor: Andri Janett
  • Patent number: 11845060
    Abstract: The invention relates to a process for the preparation of homogeneous hybrid inorganic-organic materials comprising dissolving and/or suspending and/or dispersing an inorganic and an organic material in a ionic liquid solvent to form an ionic solution and precipitating the inorganic and organic materials together to form a hybrid inorganic-organic precipitate material. The invention further relates to the homogeneous hybrid inorganic-organic precipitate material obtainable or obtained by the process, in particular carbon alumina hybrid material, to shaped articles like fibers and particles comprising said hybrid material and the use thereof for the manufacture of—or as a component in—catalysts, sorbents, building and construction materials, packaging materials, paper materials, coatings and polymers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2023
    Assignee: CLIMEWORKS AG
    Inventor: Paul O'Connor
  • Publication number: 20230256377
    Abstract: A method for separating gaseous carbon dioxide from a gas mixture, preferably from at least one of ambient atmospheric air (1), flue gas and biogas, by cyclic adsorption/desorption using a sorbent material (3), wherein the method comprises at least the following sequential and in this sequence repeating steps (a)-(e): (a) contacting said gas mixture (1) with the sorbent material (3) to allow gaseous carbon dioxide to adsorb; (b) isolating said sorbent material (3) from said flow-through; (c) inducing an increase of the temperature of the sorbent material (3); (d) extracting at least the desorbed gaseous carbon dioxide from the unit (8) and separating gaseous carbon dioxide from steam in or downstream of the unit (8); (e) bringing the sorbent material (3) to ambient atmospheric conditions; wherein said sorbent material (3) comprises primary and/or secondary amine moieties immobilized on a solid support, wherein the amine moieties, in the ?-carbon position, are substituted by one hydrogen and one non-hydrog
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 13, 2021
    Publication date: August 17, 2023
    Applicant: CLIMEWORKS AG
    Inventors: Christoph GEBALD, Angelo VARGAS, Davide ALBANI, Nina-Luisa MICHELS, Visuta ENGKAGUL, Baptiste MONNEY, José Augusto BERROCAL, Christoph WEDER
  • Patent number: 11712652
    Abstract: A process for the production of at least one of amorphous carbon or graphite, preferably of carbon black, from atmospheric air, biogas or flue gas CO2 is given, including at least the following steps: a) isolation of concentrated CO2 of a concentration of at least 50% v/v from atmospheric air, green house air or flue gas preferably by means of a cyclic adsorption/desorption process on amine-functionalized adsorbents; b) conversion of said captured CO2 into a gaseous or liquid saturated or unsaturated hydrocarbon by hydrogenation: c) cracking of said saturated or unsaturated hydrocarbon to at least one of amorphous carbon or graphite, preferably carbon black, wherein the H2 resulting from step c) is at least partially used in the hydrogenation of step b).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2023
    Assignee: CLIMEWORKS AG
    Inventors: Alexander Spiteri, Valentin Gutknecht, Jan Andre Wurzbacher, Christoph Gebald
  • Publication number: 20230233985
    Abstract: Method for separating gaseous carbon dioxide from air, in particular from ambient atmospheric air (1), by cyclic adsorption/desorption using a sorbent material (3), wherein said sorbent material (3) is a solid inorganic or organic, non-polymeric or polymeric support material functionalized on the surface with amino functionalities capable of reversibly binding carbon dioxide, with a specific BET surface area, preferably measured by nitrogen adsorption, in the range of 1-20 m2/g.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 17, 2021
    Publication date: July 27, 2023
    Applicant: CLIMEWORKS AG
    Inventors: Angelo VARGAS, Christoph GEBALD, Davide ALBANI, Tobias NIEBEL
  • Publication number: 20230211276
    Abstract: A DAC method as well as a unit containing an adsorber structure having an array of adsorber elements with a support layer and on both sides thereof a sorbent layer (1, 2), wherein the adsorber elements are parallel and spaced apart forming parallel fluid passages for flow-through of ambient atmospheric air and steam. The method involves the following sequential and repeating steps: (a) adsorption by flow-through; (b) isolating the sorbent; (c) injecting a stream of saturated steam through the parallel fluid passages and inducing an increase of the temperature; (d) extracting desorbed carbon dioxide from the unit and separating it from steam; (e) bringing the sorbent material to ambient temperature conditions wherein in step (a) the speed of the air is in the range of 2-8 m/s, and wherein at least in step (d) the speed of the steam is at least 0.2 m/s.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 25, 2021
    Publication date: July 6, 2023
    Applicant: CLIMEWORKS AG
    Inventors: Alexander SPITERI, Benjamin MEGERLE, Adelaide CALBRY-MUZYKA, Nathalie CASAS, Jan André WURZBACHER
  • Publication number: 20230201759
    Abstract: A method for separating gaseous carbon dioxide from a gas mixture by cyclic adsorption/desorption using a sorbent material adsorbing said gaseous carbon dioxide, wherein the method comprises the following sequential and in this sequence repeating steps: (a) an adsorption step; (b) and isolating step; (c) injecting a stream of saturated or superheated steam and thereby inducing an increase in internal pressure of the reactor unit and an increase of the temperature of the sorbent from ambient atmospheric temperature to a temperature between 60 and 110° C.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 25, 2021
    Publication date: June 29, 2023
    Applicant: CLIMEWORKS AG
    Inventors: Alexander SPITERI, Stefan SCHENK, Anca Elena TIMOFTE, Benjamin MEGERLE, Christoph GEBALD, Jan André WURZBACHER, Adelaide CALBRY-MUZYKA
  • Publication number: 20230173427
    Abstract: A method for separating gaseous carbon dioxide from a gas mixture having the following steps: (a) contacting the gas mixture with sorbent material to allow gaseous carbon dioxide to adsorb under ambient conditions, using a speed of the adsorption gas flow; (b0) isolating the sorbent with adsorbed carbon dioxide from said flow-through of gas mixture; (b1) injecting a stream of saturated steam at ambient conditions and inducing an increase of the temperature of the sorbent to a temperature between 60 and 110° C., (b2,b3) extracting at least the desorbed gaseous carbon dioxide while still injecting or circulating steam at ambient atmospheric pressure conditions into the unit; and (c) bringing the sorbent material to ambient atmospheric temperature conditions. The speed of steam flow through the unit in step (b1) or on average in steps (b1)-(b3) is in the range of 0.5-10 times the speed of the adsorption in step (a).
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 25, 2021
    Publication date: June 8, 2023
    Applicant: CLIMEWORKS AG
    Inventors: Nicolas REPOND, Benjamin MEGERLE
  • Patent number: 11612879
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method to produce a particulate activated carbon material for capturing CO2 from air, wherein the particulate activated carbon is impregnated with alkali carbonate salt such as K2CO3; and wherein the impregnated particulate activated carbon either has, determined using nitrogen adsorption methods, a pore volume of at least 0.10 cm3/g for pore sizes of at least 5 nm and a pore volume of at most 0.30 cm3/g for pore sizes of less than 2 nm or is based on a mixture of different alkali carbonate salts, or has a particular pore surface for pore sizes in the range of 2 nm-50 nm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2023
    Assignee: CLIMEWORKS AG
    Inventors: Christoph Gebald, Jan André Wurzbacher, Angelo Vargas, Aylin Türkan Külür, Mathis Baumann, Alexander Spiteri, Tobias Niebel
  • Patent number: 11420149
    Abstract: A method for separating carbon dioxide and water from a gas mixture by cyclic adsorption/desorption, using a unit containing an adsorber structure, comprising the following repeating steps: (a) contacting said mixture with sorbent material; (b) at least one of evacuating said unit and heating said sorbent material and extracting the gaseous carbon dioxide and water vapour and separating gaseous carbon dioxide from water vapour; (c) cooling the adsorber structure and re-pressurisation; wherein (i) in step (c) the heat released is stored in a first heat storage device; (ii) during step (b) the sensible and latent heat of gaseous carbon dioxide and water vapour as product gases is stored in second heat storage device; and (iii) during step (b) the heat required for heating said sorbent material is supplied from heat recovered in at least one of step actions (i) and (ii) of previous sequence(s).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Assignee: CLIMEWORKS AG
    Inventors: Christoph Gebald, Nicolas Repond, Jan André Wurzbacher, Anca Elena Timofte, Istvan Meszaros, Benjamin Keusch
  • Publication number: 20220193598
    Abstract: A device for the separation of a carbon dioxide of a gas stream by using a bed of particulate adsorber particles contained in a sorbent particle volume, comprising at least two inlet channels and at least two outlet channels in said sorbent particle volume, the inlet channels and outlet channels mutually intertwining at least partly to form a nested structure and being arranged parallel to each other. The inlet channels and outlet channels are alternatingly arranged in both lateral dimensions so that the sorbent particle volume is confined by the interspace defined by adjacent side walls of inlet and outlet channels. Further, the sorbent particle volume surrounds the channels circumferentially.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 12, 2020
    Publication date: June 23, 2022
    Applicant: CLIMEWORKS AG
    Inventors: Roger SUTER, Artur TSCHENSE, Benjamin MEGERLE, Nicolas REPOND, Christoph GEBALD, Jan André WURZBACHER
  • Publication number: 20220176310
    Abstract: Separation unit (1) for separating at least one gaseous component from a gas mixture, or arrangement of such separation units, wherein it comprises at least one circumferential wall element(s) (5), said circumferential wall element(s) defining an upstream opening (31) and an opposed downstream opening (32) of at least one cavity (3) containing at least one gas adsorption structure (4) for adsorbing said gaseous component under ambient pressure and/or temperature conditions, or an array of at least two such cavities (3), wherein the separation unit (1) comprises a pair of opposing sliding doors (12) for sealing the openings of a cavity (3) and preferably allowing for evacuating a cavity (3), and wherein the pair of opposing sliding doors (12) can be shifted in a direction essentially parallel to the plane of the respective sliding door (12) and to allow for flow through of gas mixture through the gas adsorption structure (4).
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 1, 2020
    Publication date: June 9, 2022
    Applicant: CLIMEWORKS AG
    Inventors: Roger SUTER, Benjamin MEGERLE, Nicolas REPOND, Christoph GEBALD, Jan André WURZBACHER
  • Patent number: 11285425
    Abstract: A gas separation unit for the separation of a first gas, carbon dioxide, from a mixture, by using an adsorption/desorption process using a loose particulate sorbent material arranged in at least two stacked layers. The primary heat exchange piping is arranged on the two outer edges of the layer within the cavity extending along a longitudinal direction. Further, an essentially parallel array of secondary heat exchange pipes is provided, the secondary heat exchange pipes extending along a transverse direction. The first diameter of the secondary heat exchange pipes is at least twice as large as the second outer diameter of the secondary heat exchange pipes and the secondary heat exchange pipes are in thermal contact with sheets of metal which extend oscillating between pairwise adjacent secondary heat exchange pipes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: CLIMEWORKS AG
    Inventors: Sebastian Sauerbeck, Christoph Gebald, Jan André Wurzbacher
  • Publication number: 20210205783
    Abstract: The invention relates to a process for the preparation of homogeneous hybrid inorganic-organic materials comprising dissolving and/or suspending and/or dispersing an inorganic and an organic material in a ionic liquid solvent to form an ionic solution and precipitating the inorganic and organic materials together to form a hybrid inorganic-organic precipitate material. The invention further relates to the homogeneous hybrid inorganic-organic precipitate material obtainable or obtained by the process, in particular carbon alumina hybrid material, to shaped articles like fibers and particles comprising said hybrid material and the use thereof for the manufacture of—or as a component in—catalysts, sorbents, building and construction materials, packaging materials, paper materials, coatings and polymers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 28, 2019
    Publication date: July 8, 2021
    Applicant: CLIMEWORKS AG
    Inventor: Paul O'CONNOR
  • Publication number: 20210187480
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method to produce a particulate activated carbon material for capturing CO2 from air, wherein the particulate activated carbon is impregnated with alkali carbonate salt such as K2CO3; and wherein the impregnated particulate activated carbon either has, determined using nitrogen adsorption methods, a pore volume of at least 0.10 cm3/g for pore sizes of at least 5 nm and a pore volume of at most 0.30 cm3/g for pore sizes of less than 2 nm or is based on a mixture of different alkali carbonate salts, or has a particular pore surface for pore sizes in the range of 2 nm-50 nm.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 8, 2018
    Publication date: June 24, 2021
    Applicant: CLIMEWORKS AG
    Inventors: Christoph GEBALD, Jan André WURZBACHER, Angelo VARGAS, Aylin Türkan KÜLÜR, Mathis BAUMANN, Alexander SPITERI, Tobias NIEBEL
  • Publication number: 20210187434
    Abstract: A method for separating carbon dioxide and water from a gas mixture by cyclic adsorption/desorption, using a unit containing an adsorber structure, comprising the following repeating steps: (a) contacting said mixture with sorbent material; (b) at least one of evacuating said unit and heating said sorbent material and extracting the gaseous carbon dioxide and water vapour and separating gaseous carbon dioxide from water vapour; (c) cooling the adsorber structure and re-pressurisation; wherein (i) in step (c) the heat released is stored in a first heat storage device; (ii) during step (b) the sensible and latent heat of gaseous carbon dioxide and water vapour as product gases is stored in second heat storage device; and (iii) during step (b) the heat required for heating said sorbent material is supplied from heat recovered in at least one of step actions (i) and (ii) of previous sequence(s).
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 5, 2019
    Publication date: June 24, 2021
    Applicant: CLIMEWORKS AG
    Inventors: Christoph GEBALD, Nicolas REPOND, Jan André WURZBACHER, Anca Elena TIMOFTE, Istvan MESZAROS, Benjamin KEUSCH
  • Patent number: 11007470
    Abstract: A gas separation unit for the separation of a first gas from a mixture containing said first gas as well as further gases by a cyclic adsorption/desorption process using a loose particulate sorbent material for gas adsorption. The particulate sorbent material is arranged in at least two stacked layers (5) that are mounted on a stiff rectangular circumferential frame (7). A plurality of tubes (11) is provided for a heat exchange fluid within the frame (7). The tubes (11) are in thermal contact with a plurality of sheets (9) of metal which are arranged essentially perpendicular to a main plane of the frame (7) and perpendicular to the tubes (11). The sheets (9) extend in a continuous manner between a first pair of mutually parallel metal profiles (7?) and are provided with a plurality of holes (10) through which the plurality of tubes (11) penetrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2021
    Assignee: CLIMEWORKS AG
    Inventors: Jan André Wurzbacher, Nicolas Repond, Tobias Ruesch, Sebastian Sauerbeck, Christoph Gebald