RSM approach for stochastic sensitivity analysis of the economicsustainability of a methanol production plant using renewable energy sources

This study aims at investigating the economic viability, at the pre-feasibility level, of a 5 MW electrolyserbase-methanol production plant, coupled with a PV power plant. The Authors investigated the impact ofdifferent parameters, such as the PV plant size, the electrical energy cost and the components capitalcosts on the methanol production cost and on the system economic viability. It was also analyzed theminimum recommended sale price of the methanol in order to assure an adequate time frame for thereturn of the investment, considering a different combination of the investigated parameters.An economic sensitivity analysis, based on the RSM approach, was performed in order to define themost promising economic conditions under which the plant can be considered a profitable investment interms of ARR. A guide for an economically viable plant design, allowing for the identification of the mostsuitable combination of the economic parameters, was proposed as a kind of\u201cmaps of existence\u201d. For thereference case, the Methanol Production Cost (MPC) resulted around 324V/ton and the minimummethanol sale price to achieve a PBP of 10 years. The sensitivity analysis identified the cost of electricityand the capital cost of the electrolyser as the most affecting parameters for the system economic viability.In terms of ARR, the methanol price represents the most significant factor. Considering a methanol saleprice ranging between 400 and 1200eur/ton, the ARR varied from 5% (20 year of PBP) to 20% (5years ofPBP). From the environmental point of view, it is worth underling that the methanol production planthere proposed allows to recycle about 5800 tons of CO2per year and to avoid the consumption of about5.2 MNm3of NG per year (compared to the traditional production)

Experimental results of an innovative NIR- solar façade panels-based polygeneration system

This paper intends to present the experimental results of an integrated polygeneration system based on innovative thermal solar façade panels working with Near-InfraRed (NIR) radiation. The research goal is the evaluation of thermal energy performances of the integrated system based on innovative NIR façade panels and including different other devices for thermal and electrical energy production (i.e. prototype heat pump and CHP mGT). The innovative solution has been developed in the framework of ‘ENVISION’ H2020 European Project whose aim is the demonstration of a full renovation concept that harvests energy from all available building surfaces allowing visible aspects to be retained. In this paper, the ‘ENVISION’ Southern Demosite, located at the Savona University Campus (one of the venues of the University of Genoa), is presented together with the description of the solar panels’ main characteristics, their site installation, and the thermal power calculation performed using experimental dat

Thermodynamic and economic analysis of a plant for the CO2 hydrogenation for methanol production

A major goal of politics, society, and industry is the reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in order to prevent anthropogenic climate change and an increase in earth's temperature. In addition, the expansion of renewable energies and the use of nuclear power, CO2 capturing (e.g. from exhaust gases), is regarded as a promising strategy to reduce global CO2 emissions. In this context, the Power-to-X technologies can provide an innovative energy storage concept by combining the main trends of energy systems aiming at high shares of renewable energies, reduction of CO2 emissions and sector coupling. A promising approach is the production of methanol as a chemical raw material or fuel. The goal of this paper is to present (i) an extensive thermodynamic analysis for the methanol production from carbon dioxide and hydrogen and (ii) an economic analysis for the process based on the thermodynamic studies. The thermodynamic analysis was carried out in the simulation tool Aspen Plus™ in order to investigate the impact of the operating temperature and pressure on the performance of the synthesis unit. Based on the thermodynamic results, an economic analysis has been performed in order to define the most feasible solution. For a defined optimal operating temperature, the fixed and operating costs and the methanol production cost were evaluated for different operating pressures. Finally, a sensitivity analysis has been performed in order to define the minimum methanol selling price that allows for a payback period of 10 years for different values of the electrical energy purchasing price

"Internal Reforming Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Gas Turbine Combined Cycles (IRSOFC-GT)-Part II: Exergy and Thermoeconomic Analyses",

none2A. MASSARDO; MAGISTRI LMassardo, Aristide; Magistri, Loredan

Methanation of carbon dioxide on Ru/Al2O3 and Ni/Al2O3 catalysts at atmospheric pressure: Catalysts activation, behaviour and stability

The methanation of carbon dioxide has been studied over 3% Ru/Al2O3 and 20% Ni/Al2O3 commercial catalysts. Experiments have been performed in diluted conditions in a flow catalytic reactor with a continuous IR detection of products. The data, reported here, confirm that 3% Ru/Al2O3 is an excellent catalyst for CO2 methanation (96% methane yield with no CO coproduction at 573 K at 15,000 h-1 GHSV in excess hydrogen). The performance is better than that of Ni/Al2O3 catalyst. The reaction orders over both catalysts with respect to both hydrogen and CO2 were determined over conditioned catalysts. A conditioning of the Ru/Al2O3 catalyst by reactant gas stream was found to be needed and more effective than conditioning in hydrogen, possibly because water vapour formed during methanation reaction will react to remove chlorine impurities from catalyst surface Conditioned Ru/Al2O3 catalyst was found to retain stable high activity after different shut-down and start-up procedures, thus being possibly applicable in intermittent conditions

Hydrogen Carriers: Scientific Limits and Challenges for the Supply Chain, and Key Factors for Techno-Economic Analysis

Hydrogen carriers are one of the keys to the success of using hydrogen as an energy vector. Indeed, sustainable hydrogen production exploits the excess of renewable energy sources, after which temporary storage is required. The conventional approaches to hydrogen storage and transport are compressed hydrogen (CH2) and liquefied hydrogen (LH2), which require severe operating conditions related to pressure (300-700 bar) and temperature (T < -252 ?C), respectively. To overcome these issues, which have hindered market penetration, several alternatives have been proposed in the last few decades. In this review, the most promising hydrogen carriers (ammonia, methanol, liquid organic hydrogen carriers, and metal hydrides) have been considered, and the main stages of their supply chain (production, storage, transportation, H-2 release, and their recyclability) have been described and critically analyzed, focusing on the latest results available in the literature, the highlighting of which is our current concern. The last section reviews recent techno-economic analyses to drive the selection of hydrogen carrier systems and the main constraints that must be considered. The analyzed results show how the selection of H-2 carriers is a multiparametric function, and it depends on technological factors as well as international policies and regulations

Liquid fuel utilization in SOFC hybrid systems

The interest in solid oxide fuel cell systems comes from their capability of converting the chemical energy of traditional fuels into electricity, with high efficiency and low pollutant emissions. In this paper, a study of the design space of solid oxide fuel cell and gas turbine hybrids fed by methanol and kerosene is presented for stationary power generation in isolated areas (or transportation). A 500 kW class hybrid system was analysed using WTEMP original software developed by the Thermochemical Power Group of the University of Genoa. The choice of fuel-processing strategy and the influence of the main design parameters on the thermoeconomic characteristics of hybrid systems were investigated. The low capital and fuel cost of methanol systems make them the most attractive solutions among those investigated here.Solid oxide fuel cells Gas turbines Hybrid systems Liquid fuels Thermodynamic analysis

Response Surface Methodology for 30 kW PEMFC stack characterization

Hydrogen is a promising energy carrier to allow the reach of the zero-emission targets established for the next years. Polymeric Electrolyte Membrane FC are studied inside the HI-SEA laboratory of the University of Genoa, to assess the opportunities of this technology on marine applications. Here, 8 PEMFC stacks, sized 30 kW each for a total power installation of 240 kW, have been tested to draw guidelines for the best system design onboard ships and to deepen the know-how on the experimental management of the technology. During the tests, it was possible to observe the reciprocal influence of some parameters, which may influence the system efficiency. In this work, a statistical investigation is developed to quantify the cell voltage variation correlated to the values of temperature and current. This has been possible thanks to Design Expert (DE), a software developed by Stat-EASE, Inc. Through the Design of Experiment approach, it is possible to evaluate the significance of variables in the FC system, called factors. The experiment under consideration is also characterized by non-controllable factors, cause of disturbances that induce further variability in the response. Eventually, it was possible to analyse the significance of the parameters involved, to build a regression model by performing the analysis of variance with which the significant values are identified, and to assess the presence of outliers

Dynamic model validation of an innovative NIR-solar façade panels-based integrated system

The goal of this paper is to present a dynamic model of an integrated energy system based on Near-InfraRed façade panels and their validation. The innovative solution has been developed in the framework of the ‘ENVISION’ European Project funded by the EU H2020 Programme. The whole system integrates the ENVISION façade panels with a mGT, a prototype heat pump, and two thermal storages composing an innovative microgrid. This paper briefly describes the whole system and the model of each component together with the main characteristic equations. The work is mainly focused on the model development and validation of the solar-faced panels’ systems and the heat pump and its single components. The model will be used to evaluate the impact of the temperature variation of the warm water produced by the panels over the heat pump performance and responsivity and to define the proper integration strategy. The validation of the solar façade panels model and the HP model has been carried out using experimental data and the results showed that the realized models have reliability of more than 98