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Ambient wind direction impacts on the performance of a CO2 direct air capture system determined using large eddy simulations
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Ambient wind direction impacts on the performance of a CO2 direct air capture system determined using large eddy simulations

Esmaeel Eftekharian, Vassili Kitsios, Ali Kiani, Ashok K. Luhar, Paul Feron, Aaron W. Thornton and Kathryn M. Emmerson
International journal of greenhouse gas control, Vol.156, pp.1-19
10/2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2026.104792
Appears in  Recent Faculty of Science and Engineering Publications
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Abstract

CO2 capture Computational fluid dynamics Direct air capture Large eddy simulation Vortex structure Wind direction
Direct air capture (DAC) has emerged as a promising technology for the direct removal of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, offering a pathway to mitigate global warming. In this study, we employ the large eddy simulation (LES) approach to predict the combined effects of atmospheric boundary-layer wind speed and wind direction on the performance of a representative DAC system. We use LES coupled with our in-house boundary condition (atmosDacBoundary) code to calculate the total mass of CO2 captured by the DAC system. The results demonstrate that with the introduction of wind, the DAC inflow velocity begins to fluctuate, resulting in time-varying amounts of CO2 captured by the DAC unit. It is found that wind speed and direction have a significant impact on the annual amount of CO2 captured. For a given wind angle, the annual CO2 capture amount reduces with an increase in wind speed. For all investigated wind speeds, the annual CO2 capture amount generally reduces with increasing wind angle relative to the DAC unit inlet. It is revealed that in the presence of wind, the maximum CO2 capture is obtained when the DAC inlet is aligned with the wind direction (wind angle of 0°), while the minimum CO2 capture amount occurs when the approaching wind angle is nearly perpendicular to the DAC unit inlet. Understanding this process is essential for optimising the location and orientation of DAC facilities, required for optimising the performance of DAC systems for large-scale deployment.

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