Patent ID: 11919785
Assignee: EBB CARBON, INC.
Field: Chemical engineering (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC C  B  H  Y | IPC B  C  H

Claim 19:
20. An electrochemical ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) system configured to capture atmospheric carbon dioxide and mitigate ocean acidification, the OAE system including a bipolar electrodialysis (BPED) system that is controlled by a control circuit to perform base-generating operations during first time periods and maintenance operations during second time periods, the BPED system being configured to generate an ocean alkalinity product including a salt solution and a dissolved base substance by electrochemically processing a feedstock solution when performing the base-generating operations, wherein the BPED system comprises:
a buffering system comprising a first buffer tank configured to store the feedstock solution, a second buffer tank configured to store an acid solution, and a third buffer tank configured to store a base solution;
an electrodialysis apparatus comprising at least one salt chamber, at least one acid chamber and at least one base chamber; and
a flow control system configured to: (i) direct a first stream comprising a portion of the feedstock solution from the first buffer tank through the at least one salt chamber, (ii) direct a second stream comprising at least a portion of the acid solution from the second buffer tank through the at least one acid chamber, and (iii) direct a third stream comprising a portion of the base solution from the third buffer tank through the at least one base chamber,
wherein the electrodialysis apparatus is configured to generate both an acid substance and at least a portion of the ocean alkalinity product by electrochemically processing the first stream, the second stream and the third stream, and
wherein the flow control system comprises:
a first three-way valve connected to a salt inflow line between the first buffer tank and the at least one salt chamber and operably coupled to an acid inflow line by a first cross-feed line, wherein the acid inflow line is configured to transmit the second stream from the second buffer tank to the at least one acid chamber, and
a second three-way valve connected to a base inflow line between the third buffer tank and the at least one base chamber and operably coupled to the acid inflow line by a second cross-feed line, and

wherein the control circuit is further configured to control the first three-way valve and the second three-way valve such that:
during each said first time period the feedstock solution flows from the first buffer tank through the first three-way valve to the at least one salt chamber and the base solution flows from the third buffer tank through the second three-way valve to the at least one base chamber, and
during each said second time period, at least a portion of the acid solution flows from the second buffer tank through the first and second three-way valves to both the at least one salt chamber and the base chamber.