Renewable energy storage via CO2 and H2 conversion to methane and methanol: Assessment for small scale applications

RENEWABLE & SUSTAINABLE ENERGY REVIEWS

卷:107

Article

Moioli, Emanuele^1,2  Mutschler, Robin^1,2  Zuettel, Andreas^1,2 

[1] Ecole Polytech Fed Lausanne, Inst Chem Sci & Engn, Lab Mat Renewable Energy, Rue Ind 17, CH-1951 Sion, Switzerland

[2] Swiss Fed Labs Mat Sci & Technol EMPA, CH-8600 Dubendorf, Switzerland

关键词: Energy storage;    Carbon capture and utilisation;    Synthetic fuels;    Power to gas;    Power to liquids;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.rser.2019.03.022

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

This study analyses the power to methane - and to methanol processes in the view of their efficiency in energy storage. A systematic investigation of the differences on the two production systems is performed. The energy storage potential of CO2 to methanol and methane is assessed in a progressive way, from the ideal case to the actual simulated process. In ideal conditions, where no additional energy is required for the reaction and CO2 is fully converted into products, energy storage is 8% more efficient in methanol than methane. However, the Sabatier reaction can be performed with a lower degree of complexity compared to the CO2 to methanol reaction. For this reason, the methanol production process is analysed in detail. The influence of the process configuration and the energy requirements for the various necessary unit operations is investigated, and an efficiency ranking among the various alternatives is obtained. Single stage, recycle and cascade reactors are compared and assessed in terms of energy requirements for the operation and energy storage in the product. For small scale applications, the cascade reactor is the most suitable process technology, because it does not require additional energy and allows high yield to methanol. With the current technology, we demonstrate that a hybrid process, including both the CO2 hydrogenation to methanol and methane, is the most effective method to achieve a high conversion of renewable energy to carbon-based fuels with a significant fraction of liquid product.

【 授权许可】

Free