Carbon Dioxide Removed by ‘Artificial Lungs’

A new filtering system is able to remove the carbon dioxide from the smokestacks of electric power stations prior to greenhouse gases flowing into the atmosphere and adding to the negative impacts of climate change. The new system was inspired by the lungs of birds and the swim bladders of fish.

This technology offers greater efficiency than other alternatives and was addressed at the 246th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, according to EurekAlert.

Climate change is an issue of global concern, not in the least because numerous power plants depend on the capture of carbon dioxide and methods of sequestration to decrease their greenhouse gas emissions.

To create the new filtering system, researchers closely studied the way that blood vessels are situated in the lungs of birds and the fish swim bladder. The researchers reported that they were seeking to learn from nature but were able to apply computer simulations for predicting the efficiency of gas exchange.

From these findings, scientists will be able to carry out more research to improve the efficiency of carbon dioxide capture units. They will be able to do this through the adjustment of tubes, tube wall thicknesses and the membrane materials that comprise the tube walls.