Innovative direct air capture and utilisation system for the production of renewable fuel

Direct air capture (DAC), which involves atmospheric CO₂ removal, must be implemented alongside other decarbonisation technologies to achieve global climate change mitigation objectives. However, like carbon capture and storage, the potential for geological CO₂ storage presents an economic liability which will limit the use of the technology. In addition, DAC also have significant physical footprint and huge energy requirement with a cost of capture of about €111-925/tCO₂. In this project, a new direct air capture System using a novel amine solvent blend and air contactor unit system which has the potential to significantly reduce the physical footprint, cost and energy requirement of the DAC system will be designed, optimised and analysed. The developed system will be integrated to a CO₂-to-fuel system, through modelling and simulation, and used to perform techno-economic analysis of the system. This project is aligned to our ongoing EU Research & Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE) project with partners in China. Therefore, the PhD student will benefit from up to 3 months annual all-expensive paid exchange visits to the project partners in China.

Newcastle University is committed to being a fully inclusive Global University which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from everybody, regardless of race, sex, ethnicity, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital status/civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, as well as being open to flexible working practices.

Application enquires:

Dr Eni Oko eni_oko@newcastle.ac.uk