THE PROTOTYPING PHASE
The prototyping phase is currently being used to test our technology and our ideas. This phase is the one preceding the system phase, where we will be building full on working systems. We are currently working on prototyping and making improvements every day. The goal of this phase is demonstrating the feasibility of the idea as well as figuring out if we forgot anything while planning the project. We will also try to automate the design and increase its efficiency in addition to working on its scaling.
THE THREE STEP PROCESS
Step 1: Capture
The first step in permanently removing CO2 from the ambient air is to concentrate it. CO2 composes about 0.04% of the average air. To neutralize carbon dioxide, you need much higher concentrations. The way our team has tackled this problem is to run air through an aqueous solution, which creates a precipitate. This precipitate is then heated to release the CO2 at much higher concentrations.
Step 2: Neutralization
The second step, once you have concentrated CO2, is to neutralize the carbon dioxide. We do this by reacting the concentrated CO2 with a reactant which chemically seperates the carbon from the O2. If the right conditions were to happen, we could either use the excess thermal energy to heat up the precipitate in step 1 or even generate "net-negative" electricity.
Step 3: Sequestration
Once we have pure carbon (essentially soot), we can be certain it won't become CO2 again. We can then put it away for a very long time. The way we have decided to do this is to put it away in one of the many abandonned mine shafts here in Quebec. Considering the shear size of theses mines, it would protect the carbon from the elements, prevent it from becoming a bio-hazard (as it is very volatile) and prevents it from absorbing the heat of the Sun which could increase global warming.