Formic acid synthesis using CO₂ as raw material: Techno-economic and environmental evaluation and market potential

The future of carbon dioxide utilisation (CDU) processes, depend on (i) the future demand of synthesised products with CO₂, (ii) the availability of captured and anthropogenic CO₂, (iii) the overall CO₂ not emitted because of the use of the CDU process, and (iv) the economics of the plant. The current work analyses the mentioned statements through different technological, economic and environmental key performance indicators to produce formic acid from CO₂, along with their potential use and penetration in the European context. Formic acid is a well-known chemical that has potential as hydrogen carrier and as fuel for fuel cells. This work utilises process flow modelling, with simulations developed in CHEMCAD, to obtain the energy and mass balances, and the purchase equipment cost of the formic acid plant. Through a financial analysis, with the net present value as selected metric, the price of the tonne of formic acid and of CO₂ are varied to make the CDU project financially feasible. According to our research, the process saves CO₂ emissions when compared to its corresponding conventional process, under specific conditions. The success or effectiveness of the CDU process will also depend on other technologies and/or developments, like the availability of renewable electricity and steam

TIMES Model Generator

<h2>TIMES Version 4.7.7</h2> <p>Date: 27-Dec-2023 [AL]: Maintenance release</p> <ol> <li>Fixed divide by zero issue in the ECB extension</li> <li>Performance improvement for EQ_PEAK in large models</li> <li>Added optional output attribute for process units</li> <li>Cosmetic improvements</li> </ol> <p>Modified files: (reason) initsys.mod : Increased version number to 4.7.7 initmty.mod : (4) units.def : (3) setglobs.gms : (2) pp_lvlpk.mod : (2) pp_shapr.mod : (2) pp_reduce.red : (2) eqpeak.mod : (2) cal_ire.mod : (2) err_stat.mod : (4) rpt_ext.ecb : (1) solsetv.v3 : (3)</p&gt

TIMES Model Generator

<h2>TIMES Version 4.7.5</h2> <p>Date: 28-Oct-2023 [AL]: Maintenance release</p> <ol> <li>Fixed divide by zero error in certain condition of PASTI with ILED within active horizon</li> <li>Added support for NCAP_ICOM for past investments</li> <li>Cosmetic improvements</li> </ol> <p>Modified files: (reason) initsys.mod : Increased version number to 4.7.5 ppmain.mod : (1) cal_cap.mod : (2) bndmain.mod : (3) bnd_stg.mod : (3) initmty.vda : (3) eqactups.vda : (3)</p&gt

TIMES Model Generator

<h2>TIMES Version 4.7.8</h2> <p>Date: 19-Jan-2024 [AL]: Maintenance & QA release</p> <ol> <li>Added QA checks against invalid attributes</li> <li>Improved topology checks for auxiliary IRE flows</li> <li>Small performance/cosmetic improvements</li> </ol> <p>Modified files: (reason) initsys.mod : Increased version number to 4.7.8 ppmain.mod : (1),(2) setglobs.gms : (1) pp_lvlpk.mod : (3) eqpeak.mod : (3) cal_fflo.mod : (3) pp_qack.mod : (1) init_ext.vda : (2) pp_prelv.vda : (3)</p&gt

TIMES Model Generator

<h2>TIMES Version 4.7.4</h2> <p>Date: 13-Oct-2023 [AL]: Maintenance release</p> <ol> <li>Fixed bug related to zero new capacities when deriving logit market shares</li> <li>Fixed bug related to zero SHAPE values for NCAP_CPX</li> <li>Cosmetic improvements</li> </ol> <p>Modified files: (reason) initsys.mod : Increased version number to 4.7.4 ppmain.mod : (3) coef_shp.mod : (2) eqobjvar.mod : (3) eqobjels.mod : (3) eqobjvar.rpt : (3) equ_ext.abs : (3) rpt_ext.ecb : (1)</p&gt

TIMES Model Generator

<h2>TIMES Version 4.7.6</h2> <p>Date: 15-Nov-2023 [AL]: Maintenance release</p> <ol> <li>Fixed bug in ECB extension when defining multiple markets with Logit choices</li> <li>Added stochastic support for flexible STS storage option (STSFLX)</li> <li>Cosmetic improvements</li> </ol> <p>Modified files: (reason) initsys.mod : Increased version number to 4.7.6 maindrv.mod : (3) setglobs.gms : (3) eqstgtss.mod : (2) eqdamage.mod : (3) preshape.gms : (3) solve.stp : (3) prepret.dsc : (3) recurrin.stc : (3) ppm_ext.ecb : (1)</p&gt

How to improve the process of forming biobased R&D collaborations

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