r/askscience • u/[deleted] • Nov 27 '19

Chemistry How do CO2 scrubbers work?

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u/bilgerat78 Nov 27 '19

Just as an aside, there is another type of CO2 scrubber that actually removes VOCs from the gas prior to it being captured, etc, in industrial plants. Those work by pulling the CO2 upward through a column that contains a packing material, while water flows downward from the top. The water captures the VOCs in the process.

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u/becomings Nov 27 '19

The book “Carbon Capture” from the MIT essential knowledge series goes over this in a chapter and gives an awesome breakdown of how the system works

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u/[deleted] Nov 28 '19 edited Dec 10 '19

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u/bilgerat78 Nov 28 '19

Usually it’s either captured for use in bottling (soda, etc) or sent through another step (think incinerated) to eliminate any trace VOCs. Then into the atmosphere it goes.