Techno-economic and environmental evaluation of CO2 utilisation for fuel production. Synthesis of methanol and formic acid

The present report assesses the technological, economic and environmental performances for producing methanol and formic acid from carbon dioxide. Methanol and formic acid are well known chemicals that can be used in the future transport sector and as hydrogen carriers. This study evaluates the potential of methanol and formic acid synthesis from captured CO2 on (i) the net reduction of CO2 emissions and (ii) their economic competitiveness, in comparison with the benchmark conventional synthesis processes using fossil fuels as raw materials. We use a process system engineering approach to calculate the technological, economic and environmental key performance indicators. The boundaries of the study are set gate-to-gate the carbon dioxide utilisation (CDU) plant: this includes hydrogen production via an electrolyser, CO2 purification, CO2 compression and the CDU plant itself. The technologies are represented at the commercial scale of the existing fossil fuel plants. Through a financial analysis, the net present value for each one of the plants is used to evaluate the price of CO2 as raw material or the price of methanol and formic acid as products that would be needed to make the CO2-based processes financially attractive. In our market analysis (by year 2030), we evaluate the possible penetration ways of methanol and formic acid, thus accepting a growing demand of both products. Overall, depending on the specific conditions of each case: source of feedstock CO2, source of H2 and/or source of electricity, amount of electricity needed and price of electricity, price of the product; the CDU plant may be directly profitable and contribute at different levels to decrease CO2 emissions. The capacity of the CDU plant depends on the available renewable electricity that is used to power it, rather than on the demand of the product. Under specific conditions, the business model becomes feasible.JRC.F.6-Energy Technology Policy Outloo

Techno-economic Assessment of Carbon Utilisation Potential in Europe

The purpose of this work is to analyse different carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) options, and hence to identify the role of CCU on the future European energy and industrial sectors. This work carries out the techno-economic analyses of methanol synthesis and accelerated aqueous carbonation of waste (fly ash) as two differentiated options for CO2 conversion. Process flow modelling is used to evaluate the operational and cost performances of two conceptual designs. Calibration and validation of the models are completed to then assess diverse operational, economic and environmental key performance indicators (KPIs). The inlet CO2 and fly ash originate from a conventional power plant. The needed hydrogen for the methanol case is produced by water electrolysis. The work puts into relevance the differences in performance and costs for the two processes analysed. Future work will contemplate other CCU processes and a global market study in the European context that focuses on (i) current prices and demands for the products, and (ii) the analysis of their foreseen market evolution and price elasticity.JRC.F.6-Energy Technology Policy Outloo

Carbon Capture and Utilisation Workshop: Background and proceedings

The utilisation of CO2 as technological fluid or as feedstock in chemical processes and in biotechnological applications has the potential to be a very efficient tool when merged with development of innovative and feasible technologies that have less-intensive energy and materials consumption and the capacity of temporary or permanent storage of CO2 (other than geological storage). The Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, Institute for Energy and Transport, and the Directorate General for Climate Action co-hosted a workshop on CO2 re-use technologies in Brussels on the 7th June 2013. The aim of the workshop was to present how the most promising pathways for CO2 re-use are related to climate and energy technology policies, facilitate a dialogue between stakeholders (industry, academia and policy makers) and address the challenges for a possible large scale roll-out of CO2 re-use technologies. A number of six presentations from experts focused on the state-of-the art of the technology, the needs of the sector for large scale deployment and the impact of the CO2 re-use products on the market. In particular, the workshop focused on three promising pathways, i.e. methanol production, mineralisation and polymer production.JRC.F.6-Energy systems evaluatio

ETRI 2014 - Energy Technology Reference Indicator projections for 2010-2050

The Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan) is the technology pillar of the EU's energy and climate policy. This report contains assessments of energy technology reference indicators (ETRI) and it is aimed at providing independent and up-to-date cost and performance characteristics of the present and future European energy technology portfolio. It complements the Technology Map of SETIS by making. The ETRIreport provides: • techno-economic data projections for the modelling community and policy makers, e.g. capital and operating costs, thermal efficiencies and technical lifetimes; • greenhouse gas emissions, and water consumptions; The ETRI report covers the time frame 2010 to 2050. This first version of the report focuses on electricity generation technologies, but it also includes data for the electrical transmission grids, energy storage systems, and heat pumps.JRC.F.6-Energy Technology Policy Outloo

SETIS Magazine - Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage issue

The SETIS magazine aims at delivering timely information and analysis on the state of play of energy technologies, related research and innovation efforts in support of the implementation of the European Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan). The current issue is dedicated to Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage. The editorial for the Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage issue is provided by A.SPIRE Executive Director Loredana Ghinea. The issue also includes contributions by: • Alessandra Quadrelli – Research Director of the French National Centre for Scientific Research • Lothar Mennicken – Senior Adviser at the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research • Aïcha El Khamlichi – Post-doctoral researcher at the French Agency for Environment and Energy • Peter Styring – Director of the UK Centre for Carbon Dioxide Utilisation A contribution from Directorate-General for Climate Action discusses The Horizon Prize for CO2 reuse. In addition, colleagues from the JRC F6 Energy Technology Policy Outlook describe the results of their study on Carbon capture and utilisation - synthesis of fuels, chemicals and materials, and Directorate-General for Research and Innovation reports on the European Commission activities to enable CO2 transformation and utilisation.JRC.F.6-Energy Technology Policy Outloo

CO2 Utilization Pathways: Techno-Economic Assessment and Market Opportunities

This paper assesses two different carbon capture and utilization (CCU) routes as disposal options for captured CO2 emissions. The adopted methodology is presented and applied to the study of urea synthesis and methanol production. Process flow modelling is used to analyze their technological performances. The adopted conceptual design strategy allows for the contextualization of the modelled technologies and their comparison in terms of selected scales and process configurations. The results highlight the potential benefit of CO2 utilization, by avoiding CO2 emissions. The proposed approach is amenable for the screening of other prospective technologies: polymer synthesis, CO2 mineralization and formic acid production, which will be addressed by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) in a follow-up study of CCU. In this work, the combination of process modelling, market study and current urea and methanol production analyses will provide the needed information to determine the economic feasibility of the selected CCU options, the possible environmental and economic advantages of the raw material replacement compared to conventional processes, the total amount of CO2 avoided and the price of CO2 as a feedstock that make CCU competitive.JRC.F.6-Energy Technology Policy Outloo

Opportunities of Integrating CO2 Utilization with RES-E: a Power-to-Methanol Business Model with Wind Power Generation

Under the need to reduce CO2 emissions, renewable energy sources for electricity (RES-E) and more efficient processes are needed to decrease GHG emission rates. Carbon dioxide utilization (CDU) for the production of fuels, chemicals and materials is becoming complementary to capture CO2 and a promising source of competitive advantage for the European industry. CDU processes are at conceptual design, up to small demonstration readiness level. Since the CDU process has to compete with well-established conventional synthesis processes, they may not be profitable at current market conditions. Moreover, to have lower carbon footprint than the benchmark process, it has been demonstrated that they need electricity from renewable sources when CO2 is combined with H2 as raw material [1]. This work explores the conditions to make the CDU process competitive in the power market as a chemical storage alternative. In particular, the study aims at evaluating the connection of a methanol CDU plant with a wind power portfolio, to elucidate under which conditions this relationship is advantageous for both: (i) the CDU plant as a source of low-cost and zero emission energy, and (ii) the wind producer for the maximization of its profit. The business model proposed here considers one system actor maximizing its profit. The system actor is a wind producer that sells its RES-E to the day-ahead power market or that uses its RES-E to synthesize and sell methanol. The intraday market is used as balancing market for the deviations of the wind power forecasting. The model lies in the methodology developed by [2], aiming at reducing the wind power forecasting uncertainty, between the closure of the day-ahead market and the first intraday bidding session in the Spanish power market. The business model has been implemented an ad-hoc linear programming optimization based in GAMSJRC.C.7-Knowledge for the Energy Unio

Methanol synthesis using captured CO2 as raw material: Techno-economic and environmental assessment

The purpose of this paper is to assess via techno-economic and environmental metrics the production of methanol (MeOH) using H2 and captured CO2 as raw materials. It evaluates the potential of this type of carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) plant on (i) the net reduction of CO2 emissions and (ii) the cost of production, in comparison with the conventional synthesis process of MeOH Europe. Process flow modelling is used to estimate the operational performance and the total purchased equipment cost; the flowsheet is implemented in CHEMCAD, and the obtained mass and energy flows are utilised as input to calculate the selected key performance indicators (KPIs). CO2-based metrics are used to assess the environmental impact. The evaluated MeOH plant produces 440 ktMeOH/yr, and its configuration is the result of a heat integration process. Its specific capital cost is lower than for conventional plants. However, raw materials prices, i.e. H2 and captured CO2, do not allow such a project to be financially viable. In order to make the CCU plant financially attractive, the price of MeOH should increase in a factor of almost 2, or H2 costs should decrease almost 2.5 times, or CO2 should have a value of around 222 €/t, under the assumptions of this work. The MeOH CCU-plant studied can utilise about 21.5% of the CO2 emissions of a pulverised coal (PC) power plant that produces 550 MWnet of electricity. The net CO2 emissions savings represent 8% of the emissions of the PC plant (mainly due to the avoidance of consuming fossil fuels as in the conventional MeOH synthesis process). The results demonstrate that there is a net but small potential for CO2 emissions reduction; assuming that such CCU plants are constructed in Europe to meet the MeOH demand growth and the quantities that are currently imported, the net CO2 emissions reduction could be of 2.71 MtCO2/yr.JRC.F.6-Energy Technology Policy Outloo

CO2 Capture and Utilization in Cement and Iron and Steel Industries

This paper evaluates different technological options for the reduction of CO2 emissions in heavy industries through their capture and use of best available technologies. This work presents the approach and the preliminary results obtained in the evaluation of iron and steel industry using oxygen blast furnace gas recycling after CO2 capture in a pressure swing adsorber. It also evaluates the use of post-combustion capture using amines for retrofitting in the cement industry. Both are considered the most feasible technologies to be deployed in Europe in the medium term. Calibration, validation and future work regarding iron and steel industry model are described. The study finally assess the potential of cement and iron and steel industries to supply CO2 to urea and methanol industries, which are two prospective users of CO2 captured in Europe.JRC.F.6-Energy Technology Policy Outloo

Optimal design of solid-oxide electrolyzer based power-to-methane systems: A comprehensive comparison between steam electrolysis and co-electrolysis

Power-to-methane technologies have been regarded as a promising alternative to offer small or large-scale, long-timescale (daily/weekly/seasonal) energy storage as well as the opportunity of utilizing CO2. The performance of the core component, the electrolyzer, largely determines how well a power-to-methane system can perform, making high-temperature solid-oxide electrolysis attractive because of its inherent high electrical ef- ficiency. More importantly, solid oxide electrolysis uniquely allows co-electrolysis of steam and CO2 for producing syngas, the composition of which can be readily, flexibly adjusted to synthesize different hydrocarbon fuels. In this paper, for both steam and co-electrolysis, we comprehensively and comparatively investigate several critical design issues of a solid oxide electrolyzer based power-to-methane system with fixed bed methanation reactor and membrane-based methane upgrading: (1) system level heat integration, (2) the impacts of operating variables (e.g., operating voltage, reactant utilization, anode/cathode feed ratio, and operating pressure of the methanation reactor and membrane) on system performances, (3) the competitiveness of the electrolyzer operation with pure oxygen production, and (4) the possibility of avoiding electrical heating, which is necessary for thermoneutral operation to heat up the electrolyzer feeds to the required temperature. To achieve this target, a multi-objective optimization platform with integrated heat cascade calculation is employed with experimentally calibrated component models. The results show that, for both steam and co-electrolysis, there is a trade-off between system efficiency and methane yield: pursuing a higher efficiency generally reduces the methane yield, which is a consequence of electrochemistry, stack cooling and system-level heat integration. Instead of sweep air, pure oxygen production is preferred only at small current density, which delivers the highest system efficiency but the lowest methane yield. When the electrolyzer operates exothermically, methane production and the total power consumption can vary in much wider ranges than those with the electrolyzer operating under thermoneutral mode, which leads to potential enhancement of operation flexibility and reliability. The co-electrolysis coupling with strongly-exothermic syngas methanation, in general, offers better heat- integration opportunity with sweep air, but less with pure oxygen production. In addition, several design heuristics, e.g., the operating pressure of the electrolyzer and methanation reactor, are concluded to potentially guide practical applications