Techno-economic analysis on an integrated system for direct air capture and atmospheric water harvesting

Moisture-swing adsorption (MSA) has emerged as a promising technology for direct air capture (DAC) due to its ability to decouple from high-grade heat, which can offer significant potential for low cost and sustainable carbon removal. Achieving scalable deployment requires fully closed-loop materials and energy management, remaining a critical challenge underexplored in current MSA research. The continuous water loss inherent in conventional MSA limits its viability in water-constrained environments. This study proposes an integrated system that couples atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) with MSA. This framework adopts a sequential material flow configuration in which ambient air is processed through a CO 2 contactor before entering a water contactor. This design synergistically boosts the relative humidity at AWH inlet, which enhances CO 2 and water capture efficiencies. The results indicate that the integrated system is capable of capturing 8–15 tons of CO 2 annually. The levelized cost of DAC falls within the range of approximately 240–260 $/t. The system demonstrates exceptional performance in arid regions by maintaining a closed-loop water balance and achieving net-negative emissions without external water inputs. It proves that AWH-MSA integration provides a cost-effective pathway for deploying DAC across diverse geographical landscapes.