Audi filters carbon dioxide from the air

In cooperation with the green technology company Krajete, Audi has set up a live air capture station in Linz. (Photo: Audi)

Audi is working with the Linz-based company Krajete to extract emissions from ambient air with the help of direct air capture technologies. The first tangible result of this collaboration is a system in Austria that uses an inorganic filter material to remove dirt from It can absorb the surrounding environment. Because the materials used can be highly charged with particles, they are not particularly sensitive to the effects of moisture, according to Audi. According to the manufacturer, the temperature and pressure conditions for adsorption of CO2 particles and their subsequent removal from the adsorption surface are very similar. This will greatly shorten the loading and unloading cycles of the adsorption device. The current plant in Linz can filter about 500 tons of carbon dioxide from the air annually, and by the end of the year another unit will double the capacity. The system supplies power to the photovoltaic system at the company’s headquarters.

“This technology allows for immediate removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, regardless of location, and is therefore an important decarbonization measure”says Hagen Seifert, Head of Sustainable Product Concepts at Audi In addition, the technology of the system can be expanded in a variety of ways thanks to its modular structure.In further steps, Audi is currently studying ways to develop sources with higher concentrations of carbon dioxide and to filter out other emissions such as nitrogen oxides. In addition, the technology can be implemented on a much larger scale at Audi’s Hungarian site in Győr. According to the manufacturer, it will be possible to envisage a system with a separation capacity of 25,000 tons per year.

On the other hand, Audi would like to put ambient air filtration systems on the road with supplier Mann + Hummel. The partners jointly introduced a filter that is supposed to improve the air quality in the radiator grille of the car during driving and during charging. While driving, the system operates passively with the help of wind, while the vehicle absorbs ambient air during the stationary charging process. According to the OEM, future plans include connecting the filter to information from weather stations and developing display logic in the car to show system activity.