A greener, simpler way to create syngas

by Matthew Chin, University of California, Los Angeles JANUARY 7, 2020

Schematic showing the atomic structure of the copper-ruthenium nanoparticle catalyst. Credit: John Mark Martirez/UCLA

Researchers from UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, Rice University and UC Santa Barbara have developed an easier and greener way to create syngas.

A study detailing their work is published today in Nature Energy.

Syngas (the term is short for "synthesis gas") is a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen gases. It is used to make ammonia, methanol, other industrial chemicals and fuels. The most common process for creating syngas is coal gasification, which uses steam and oxygen (from air) at high temperatures, a process that produces large amounts of carbon dioxide.

One more environmentally friendly way to create syngas, called methane dry reforming, involves getting two potent greenhouse gases to react—methane (for example, from natural gas) and carbon dioxide. But that process is not widely used at industrial scales, partly because it requires temperatures of at least 1,300 degrees Fahrenheit (700 degrees Celsius) to initiate the chemical reaction.

Over the past decade, researchers have tried to improve the process for creating syngas using various metal alloys that could catalyze the required chemical reaction at lower temperatures. But the tests were either inefficient or resulted in the metal catalysts being covered in coke, a residue of mostly carbon that builds up during the process.

In the new research, engineers found a more suitable catalyst: copper with a few atoms of the precious metal ruthenium exposed to visible light. Shaped like a tiny bump about 5 nanometers in diameter (a nanometer is one-billionth of a meter) and lying on top of a metal-oxide support, the new catalyst enables a chemical reaction that selectively produces syngas from the two greenhouse gases using visible light to drive the reaction, without requiring any additional thermal energy input.

In addition, in principle, the process requires only concentrated sunlight, which also prevents the buildup of coke that plagued earlier methods.

"Syngas is used ubiquitously in the chemical industry to create many chemicals and materials that enable our daily life," said Emily Carter, a UCLA distinguished professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, and a corresponding author of the paper. "What's exciting about this new process is that it offers the opportunity to react captured greenhouse gases—reducing carbon emissions to the atmosphere—while creating this critical chemical feedstock using an inexpensive catalyst and renewable energy in the form of sunlight instead of using fossil fuels."

Porous silica protects nickel catalyst

---

More information: Linan Zhou et al. Light-driven methane dry reforming with single atomic site antenna-reactor plasmonic photocatalysts, Nature Energy (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41560-019-0517-9

Journal information: Nature Energy 

Researchers realize direct synthesis of isoparaffin-rich gasoline from syngas

Peer-Reviewed Publication

DALIAN INSTITUTE OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS, CHINESE ACADEMY SCIENCES

A research team led by Prof. PAN Xiulian and Prof. BAO Xinhe from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences realized the direct synthesis of isoparaffin-rich gasoline from syngas using ZnAlOx-SAPO-11 oxide-zeolite (OXZEO) catalysts.

They elucidated the active sites of isoparaffin formation, which provided guidance for the one-step synthesis of high-quality gasoline from syngas.

This study was published in ACS Energy Letters on March 23.

Previously, the DICP team proposed a new catalyst concept based on metal OXZEO bi-functional catalysts, and it enabled the direct conversion of syngas to a variety of chemicals and fuels with high selectivity, such as light olefins, ethylene, gasoline, aromatics and oxygenates. The OXZEO concept provided a new technology platform for the highly efficient utilization of coal and other carbon resources.

In this study, they achieved 34% CO conversion and 82% gasoline selectivity by modulating the acid sites distribution of zeolite, in which the iso/n-paraffins ratio was as high as 38. By optimizing the reaction conditions, they increased the ratio of iso/n-paraffins as high as 48, which was the highest value of the iso/n-paraffins ratio reported so far.

Moreover, a 150-hour on stream test of the catalyst indicated rather stable activity in syngas-to-gasoline.

Further studies showed that the external acid sites of the zeolite could be the active sites for the formation of branched, especially the multi-branched isoparaffins.

"This study provided important guidance for the one-step synthesis of high-quality gasoline from syngas and even CO2," said Prof. PAN.

The above work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Dalian High-level Talent Innovation Program, and the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of CAS.

---

JOURNAL

ACS Energy Letters

DOI

10.1021/acsenergylett.2c00467 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Commentary/editorial

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Direct Synthesis of Isoparaffin-rich Gasoline from Syngas

Resurrecting A World War II Fuel To Fight Flight Shaming

By Julianne Geiger - Feb 06, 2020

A “green” jet fuel based on a chemical process created by the Germans for the Luftwaffe air force during World War II may have just found a new purpose in the burgeoning era of flight shaming; but is it commercially viable?

German scientists think so.

Today, German scientists are working together to revive an old kerosene project that could make a commercially viable synthetic jet fuel in a move that will hopefully save airlines from the latest air travel trend - flight shaming.  

Of course, the 1925 kerosene creation wasn’t the green version - it relied on coal and other fossil fuels to create the kerosene. But today’s version of the kerosene project would see this kerosene derived from water.

What’s more, this green version actually pulls carbon dioxide out of the air during the creation process.

If successful, the process could not only put an end to the rising emissions from air travel, but it could also strip away demand for crude oil should the current fossil-fuel based jet fuel be replaced.

How it Works

The process for making this power-based fuel is a methanol synthesis process that produces synthetic methanol. It is derived from water, which is then fractured into oxygen and hydrogen, and then combined with carbon.

This synthetic methanol is then refined into a product such as kerosene.

Compared to another synthetic-producing process called Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, this synthetic methanol process allows the manufacturer to better tailor the end product and reduce any unwanted by-products, according to Heide.

Still, the process will take a huge amount of electricity. In order to be carbon neutral, this electricity would need to come from renewable sources. This is a big ask, but one that scientists say is doable, even on a commercial scale.

German scientists are working on the latest iteration of this process, working under the direction of Bremen University in a project called KEROSyN100. Related: Are Oil Markets Overreacting To The Coronavirus?

While there are other synthetic aviation fuel projects currently underway, Heide believes it is the only one using a methanol synthesis process.

Decades ago, US Navy scientists made headway in a similar project, creating jet fuel from seawater. However, they have failed to reach any large scale - yet.

The Navy’s project involved a cell that pulled pure and concentrated carbon dioxide from the seawater - a superior source than the carbon dioxide from flue or stack gases produced from burning fossil fuels. The process also simultaneously produces hydrogen, which helps to recover the CO2. The two gases are slammed together to create fuel. This is the same basic principle as the Heide project.  

This unit the Navy was using was able to capture 92% of carbon dioxide from the seawater, where it is 140 times more concentrated than in the air. The energy supplied to the cell went 100% towards making hydrogen - not the extracting process. Then, the gases are converted into olefins using an iron catalyst. 

In 2013, the Navy produced one liter of fuel a day this way. Small potatoes, but a success nonetheless. The Naval Research Laboratory hoped the seawater fuel would reach commercial viability in 10 to 15 years. That puts the target between 2023 and 2028.

American Money

This newest iteration of “green” jet fuel is being made at Klesch Group’s Heide oil refinery - a refinery that American billionaire Gary Klesch purchased from Royal Dutch Shell in 2010 at a time when oil companies were looking to shed European downstream assets as refining margins shrunk.

At the time of Klesch’s purchase, Heide, a landlocked refinery in Heide Germany near the North Sea, was capable of processing 93,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Banking on downstream’s long-term prospects, Klesch snapped up or built multiple refineries around the world, including a 300,000 bpd refinery in Libya. The group’s latest move was a deal in December to take over operations from PDVSA for Venezuela’s Isla refinery in Curacao.

Lufthansa has signed an agreement with the Heide refinery to produce and use this environmentally friendly kerosene, which will be made from surplus wind energy. The kerosene is still in the R&D phase now a Heide spokesperson told Oilprice.com, but it has plans to deliver first synthetic kerosene by 2023, and to supply 5% of Hamburg airport’s jet fuel supply with synthetic kerosene by 2024.

The HangUps

In its 2009 project, the US Navy ran into some snags. First, while concentrations of carbon dioxide in water are many times greater than those in the air, it’s still a small amount, at just 100 milligrams per liter. To put this into perspective, you would have to process nine million cubic meters (almost 2.4 billion gallons) of water to make just 100,000 gallons of fuel. 

Second, the water needs to be pumped into the cell - ostensibly using some form of energy. And if the vessel uses fuel to make that electricity, well, the whole process would be a wash and have no value. Related: Energy Stocks Retreat On Poor Earnings

The third hangup was that the process produced methane. Most of the gas was converted, but some was not.

The fourth hangup is that when the fuel is burned, it does release carbon. The Navy mentioned that this would be a constant state of equilibrium; with carbon released into the air before being recycled from the sea again.

The latest project hopes to resolve some of the hangups by using wind energy to power the process.

If the current project to use renewable energy as a means of creating this greener jet fuel is successful on a large scale, mass adoption is a near certainty. While the transportation sector is busy converting ICE vehicles into electric ones to combat climate change, no current alternative to fossil fuel-powered air travel is viable. And never has it been more imperative for the transportation sector to figure out how to duck the climate change blow.  

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

JANUARY 7, 2020

A greener, simpler way to create syngas

by Matthew Chin, University of California, Los Angeles

Schematic showing the atomic structure of the copper-ruthenium nanoparticle catalyst. Credit: John Mark Martirez/UCLA

Researchers from UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, Rice University and UC Santa Barbara have developed an easier and greener way to create syngas.

A study detailing their work is published today in Nature Energy.

Syngas (the term is short for "synthesis gas") is a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen gases. It is used to make ammonia, methanol, other industrial chemicals and fuels. The most common process for creating syngas is coal gasification, which uses steam and oxygen (from air) at high temperatures, a process that produces large amounts of carbon dioxide.

One more environmentally friendly way to create syngas, called methane dry reforming, involves getting two potent greenhouse gases to react—methane (for example, from natural gas) and carbon dioxide. But that process is not widely used at industrial scales, partly because it requires temperatures of at least 1,300 degrees Fahrenheit (700 degrees Celsius) to initiate the chemical reaction.

Over the past decade, researchers have tried to improve the process for creating syngas using various metal alloys that could catalyze the required chemical reaction at lower temperatures. But the tests were either inefficient or resulted in the metal catalysts being covered in coke, a residue of mostly carbon that builds up during the process.

In the new research, engineers found a more suitable catalyst: copper with a few atoms of the precious metal ruthenium exposed to visible light. Shaped like a tiny bump about 5 nanometers in diameter (a nanometer is one-billionth of a meter) and lying on top of a metal-oxide support, the new catalyst enables a chemical reaction that selectively produces syngas from the two greenhouse gases using visible light to drive the reaction, without requiring any additional thermal energy input.

In addition, in principle, the process requires only concentrated sunlight, which also prevents the buildup of coke that plagued earlier methods.

"Syngas is used ubiquitously in the chemical industry to create many chemicals and materials that enable our daily life," said Emily Carter, a UCLA distinguished professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, and a corresponding author of the paper. "What's exciting about this new process is that it offers the opportunity to react captured greenhouse gases—reducing carbon emissions to the atmosphere—while creating this critical chemical feedstock using an inexpensive catalyst and renewable energy in the form of sunlight instead of using fossil fuels."

 

New method boosts syngas generation from biopolyols

DALIAN INSTITUTE OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS, CHINESE ACADEMY SCIENCES

Research News

 

IMAGE: SCHEMATIC MECHANISM OF THE PHOTOINDUCED PCET PROCESS OVER [SO4]/CDS view more 

CREDIT: DICP

a

Photocatalytic biomass conversion is an ideal way of generating syngas (H2 and CO) via C-C bond cleavage, which is initiated by hydrogen abstraction of O/C-H bond. However, the lack of efficient electron-proton transfer limits its efficiency. Conversional gasification of biomass into syngas needs to be operated at high temperature (400-700 °C).

Recently, a group led by Prof. WANG Feng from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), in collaboration with Prof. WANG Min from Dalian University of Technology, proposed a new method to realize photocatalytic conversion of biopolyols to syngas at room temperature with high efficiency.

This study was published in Journal of the American Chemical Society on April 27.

The researchers prepared surface sulfate ions modified CdS catalyst ([SO4]/CdS), which could simultaneously increase both the electron and proton transfer, thereby facilitating the generation of syngas mixture from biopolyols with high activity and selectivity.

In situ characterizations combined with theoretical calculations demonstrated that the surface sulfate ion [SO4] was bifunctional, serving as the proton acceptor to promote proton transfer, and increasing the oxidation potential of the valence band to enhance electron transfer.

Compared with pristine CdS, [SO4]/CdS exhibited 9-fold higher CO generation rate and 4-fold higher H2 generation. Through this method, a wide range of sugars, such as glucose, fructose, maltose, sucrose, xylose, lactose, insulin, and starch, were facilely converted into syngas.

This study reveals the pivotal effect of surface sulfate ion on electron-proton transfer in photocatalysis and provides a facile method for increasing photocatalytic efficiency.

###

'MAYBE' TECH

Reverse combustion is preparing for takeoff

Where burning hydrocarbons is unavoidable, creating them from atmospheric carbon is a promising option


SOURCE: © ETH ZÜRICH/ALESSANDRO DELLA BELLA

OPINION
BY DEREK LOWE

11 NOVEMBER 2021

Earlier this year, I wrote in this column about the possibilities of ‘reverse combustion’, the idea of producing fuels and chemical feedstocks out of carbon dioxide. Thermodynamically, that process is going to have to take energy. The question then comes down to making it as efficient as possible and sourcing those energy inputs in the least harmful way.

A paper from Aldo Steinfeld’s team at ETH Zurich in Switzerland describes a project aimed exactly at this problem. The team has been looking for some years now at producing fuels such as methanol and/or kerosene from ambient carbon dioxide. We already know how to make such things on an industrial scale from syngas – mixtures of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, often with some percentage of carbon dioxide. But as it stands, we generally produce syngas from fossil hydrocarbon feedstocks (steam reforming of natural gas, coal gasification etc), which makes it a way to convert between hydrocarbon fuels (gas, liquid, and solid) with an associated energy cost. Producing syngas from the carbon dioxide and water vapour in the air would be a welcome new variation – and compared to the water-based photovoltaic routes to synthetic fuels, it’s more direct and has fewer steps.



Source: © ETH Zürich/Alessandro Della Bella

The research plant produces syngas, which can be processed into liquid hydrocarbon fuels through conventional methanol or Fischer–Tropsch synthesis

That’s what this latest work demonstrates. The water and carbon dioxide are adsorbed from the air, then pumped into a reactor zone using reticulated ceria (cerium oxide) as the catalyst. This is heated only by concentrated sunlight to yield a syngas mixture, and depending on the amount of carbon dioxide present (which can be adjusted) this can be sent into further catalytic columns for either methanol synthesis or hydrocarbon fuel via the Fischer–Tropsch process. One interesting advantage of using ambient gases as feedstocks is the absence of typical impurities, which keep the catalysts from fouling, and produce very clean products from an emissions standpoint – no sulfur, no poorly-burning aromatics, and so on.


The properties of liquid fuels are very hard to replicate for some applications, and airplane fuel leads the list

Now, this technology is not going to start delivering millions of tons of hydrocarbons any time soon. But the fact that it works at all is a demonstration of some potentially disruptive forces: fuels could be produced wherever there is sufficient sunlight, without regard to existing hydrocarbon deposits. Deserts would in fact be ideal locations. Engineering work that has already gone into solar-concentration power plants (and of course, the processes for conversion of syngas) would be directly applicable to much of this production as well. There’s also the big advantage of making ‘drop-in’ products, since the methanol and jet fuel can be used as is with the existing infrastructure.

But as the authors point out, such fuel is going to be more expensive for some time to come, and very much more expensive at first. They hope for some sort of policy support to encourage aviation fuel production via this route, which will allow the technology to gradually scale up and for engineers and chemists to improve it along the way. Every process of this sort benefits from the lessons of scale-up in the real world. Right now, for example, one of the biggest problems with the overall efficiency is the loss of heat during the back-and-forth swing between different temperatures needed. Using this more efficiently, along with new ideas for the ceria catalyst surface, better sunlight tracking and more, could eventually make this the preferred pathway for carbon dioxide extraction. And that in turn could start making a large fuel production sector carbon-neutral.

One objection is that it would be better to put such resources into finding ways not to burn hydrocarbons at all. But the properties of liquid fuels – transport, energy density, storage – are very hard to replicate for some applications, and airplane fuel leads the list. We absolutely need (some) jet transport in the world economy, so the opportunity to defang it from a pollution and climate standpoint seems too good to miss.

Another objection is that all such technological schemes to ameliorate these problems are somehow tainted. But I have never been able to subscribe to that viewpoint. Chemist that I am, I think that we invented our way into these problems, and that inventiveness should be helping us back out of them!

 

A more eco-friendly facial sheet mask that moisturizes, even though it’s packaged dry

Peer-Reviewed Publication

AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY

Starting a new year, many people pledge to enact self-care routines that improve their appearance. And facial sheet masks soaked in skin care ingredients provide an easy way to do this. However, these wet masks and their waterproof packaging often contain plastics and preservatives. Now, a study in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces reports a dry-packaged hydrating facial mask that is made of biobased and sustainable materials.

Consumers in the beauty industry are increasingly concerned about the sustainability and sourcing of personal care items, in terms of both products’ ingredients and packaging. Facial sheet masks are popular cosmetic products advertised to benefit and enhance the skin. But they are typically made with plastic backing fabrics and are packaged with wet ingredients, requiring preservatives and disposable water-tight pouches. A more environmentally friendly option would be to package the facial masks dry. So, Jinlain Hu and coworkers aimed to design a facial sheet mask with biobased materials that could be enveloped in paper and later activated to deliver moisture and nutrients.

The researchers developed a facial mask with a sheet of plant-based polylactic acid (PLA), which could repel water, and they coated it in a layer of gelatin mixed with hyaluronic acid and green tea extract. They deposited the top layer as either tiny fibers or microspheres, using electrospinning or electrospray, respectively, and tested how well the masks could transfer moisture. They found:

• Water droplets did not pass through the masks without skin contact, regardless of which side a water droplet was placed on.
• Contact with skin initiated one-way water transport from PLA to gelatin to skin, but only for masks coated with gelatin-based microspheres.
• Placing the mask on moistened, rather than dry, skin improved water delivery through the mask.

Finally, the team investigated how its mask’s ingredients impacted mouse cells as a proxy for reactions on skin. Fewer cells showed signals of aging when grown on the mask compared with cells grown in control conditions; the researchers attribute this to the antioxidant properties of the green tea extracts. The team says the beneficial properties of the natural ingredients and the one-way moisture-delivery design make this mask a promising alternative with a lesser environmental impact compared to traditional, wet-packed products.

The authors acknowledge funding from the City University of Hong Kong, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Macau Science & Technology Fund.

###

The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS’ mission is to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and all its people. The Society is a global leader in promoting excellence in science education and providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple research solutions, peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences, eBooks and weekly news periodical Chemical & Engineering News. ACS journals are among the most cited, most trusted and most read within the scientific literature; however, ACS itself does not conduct chemical research. As a leader in scientific information solutions, its CAS division partners with global innovators to accelerate breakthroughs by curating, connecting and analyzing the world’s scientific knowledge. ACS’ main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

Note: ACS does not conduct research, but publishes and publicizes peer-reviewed scientific studies.

Follow us: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram

---

JOURNAL

ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces

DOI

10.1021/acsmi.3c15815 

ARTICLE TITLE

Electrosprayed Environment-Friendly Dry Triode-Like Facial Masks for Skincare

Lithuanian researchers recycle surgical masks for hydrogen-rich gas production

Lithuanian researchers investigate the possibilities of plasma gasification as an eco-friendly technique to convert used surgical masks into clean energy.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

KAUNAS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

 

IMAGE: 

SAMY YOUSEF, A CHIEF RESEARCHER AT KTU FACULTY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING AND DESIGN

view more 

CREDIT: KTU

During the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of tons of used surgical masks were dumped every month without a real vision to manage them. Although the world has successfully passed the critical period, a serious industrial eco-solution must be developed to deal with this waste.

Researchers from Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) and Lithuanian Energy Institute, aiming to design a solution for surgical mask waste management are investigating the possibilities of plasma gasification as an eco-friendly technique to convert surgical mask waste into clean energy products.

After conducting a series of experiments, they obtained synthetic gas (aka syngas) with a high abundance of hydrogen.

“There are two ways of converting waste to energy – by transforming solid waste into liquid product, or gases. Gasification allows converting huge amounts of waste to syngas, which is similar to natural and is a composition of several gases (such as hydrogen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and methane). During our experiments, we played with the composition of this synthetic gas and increased its concentration of hydrogen, and, in turn, its heating value,” says Samy Yousef, a chief researcher at Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania.

For the conversion of surgical masks, the researchers applied plasma gasification on defective FFP2 face masks, which were shredded beforehand into a uniform particle size, and then converted to granules that could be easily controlled during treatment.

The highest yield of hydrogen was obtained at an S/C (steam-to-carbon ratio) of 1.45. Overall, the obtained syngas showed a 42% higher heating value than that produced from biomass.

Traditional waste management technique was improved

Yousef’s research team, composed of scientists from two Lithuanian research institutions, KTU and Lithuanian Energy Institute, are working on the topics of recycling and waste management, and are always looking for waste, which is present in huge amounts and has a unique structure. In their work, they have conducted pyrolysis experiments on cigarette butts, used wind turbine blades, and textile waste, which have all shown promising results for upscaling and commercialization. Yet, this time, for the recycling of surgical masks, a different method was applied.

“Gasification is a traditional waste management technique. Differently from pyrolysis, which is still a new and developing method we don’t need much investment in developing infrastructure. Arc plasma gasification, which we have applied for the decomposition of surgical masks, means that under high temperatures generated by arc plasma, we can decompose face masks to gas within a few seconds. In pyrolysis, it takes up to an hour to get the final product. In advanced gasification, the process is almost instantaneous,” explains Yousef.

He says that advanced gasification techniques, such as plasma gasification, are more efficient in obtaining a better concentration of hydrogen (up to 50%) within synthetic gas production. Moreover, plasma gasification decreases the amount of tar in the syngas, which makes its quality higher.

Hydrogen-rich gas has better heating values

According to Yousef, plasma gasification is one of the best methods to obtain synthetic gas, which is rich in hydrogen.

“Hydrogen increases the heating value of the synthetic gas,” explains Yousef and continues describing the different types of hydrogen: grey is obtained from natural gas or methane, green – from green sources (e.g., electrolysis), blue – from steam reforming.

“Maybe we could call our black hydrogen, as it’s made from waste?” he says half-jokingly.

The yield of syngas was around 95% of the total amount of feedstock. The remaining products were soot and tar. The analysis revealed that benzene, toluene, naphthalene and acenaphthylene were the main compounds in collected tar. According to the researchers, it can be used as a clean fuel in different industries with low carbon emissions.   

The soot was formulated in the last stage of plasma gasification. Its main component is black carbon, which can have numerous applications related to energy, wastewater treatment, and agriculture, or can be used as a filler material in composites.

The researchers believe that their proposed method for surgical mask waste recycling has a high potential to be commercialized. According to Yousef, a researcher from KTU, their main aim was to obtain synthetic gas, which is rich in hydrogen. Although hydrogen can be separated from the obtained syngas, it can also be used as a mixture of gases. As such, it already has half a higher heating value than that produced from biomass.

---

JOURNAL

International Journal of Hydrogen Energy

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Plasma steam gasification of surgical mask waste for hydrogen-rich syngas production

Delta places huge order for sustainable aviation fuel made with 839MW of green hydrogen

The SAF will be made by combining cellulosic biomass and renewable H2 using Fischer-Tropsch method

Delta aircraftPhoto: Chris Sweigart/Delta

American airline Delta is to buy 385 million gallons of green hydrogen-derived sustainable aviation fuel (SAFs), the largest deal of its kind made by a US airline and a major step forward for producers looking to make green biofuels with renewable H2.

Fuel for the deal will be made using a version of the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process, which chemically pairs carbon monoxide and hydrogen to produce synthetic hydrocarbons.

Supply will come from a new FT plant planned by US producer DG Fuels in Louisiana, furnished with an 839MW electrolyser to supply the hydrogen. Construction on the plant is due to begin in 2023, with first SAF production in the second half of 2026.

The largest hydrogen electrolyser installed globally to date is a 150MW machine in central China, while a bigger 260MW unit is currently under construction in northwest China.

Power for DG Fuels’ 839MW electrolyser will be sourced from solar plants and verified by Renewable Energy Certificates, DG Fuels CEO Michael Darcy, tells Recharge. The scheme will apply for hydrogen tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), but the Delta deal was already agreed before the IRA was announced, he adds.

Delta will buy 55 million gallons of the fuel per year for seven years from 2027, pushing the company further towards its goal of procuring more than 400 million gallons of SAF annually by 2030 — the equivalent of 10% of its yearly fuel consumption.
Article continues below the advert

As of 2021, Delta had secured more than 40% of that goal through offtake agreements. The DG Fuels deal — assuming it has not already been counted — would take that to around 54%.


SPECIAL REPORT | Can renewables make airlines carbon-free by 2050?Read more
Fischer-Tropsch

DG Fuels’ FT process utilises a carbon monoxide-heavy syngas made by processing cellulosic biomass —organic material such as plant or tree waste — at high temperatures and without oxygen to produce carbon monoxide and other gases, water and tar, and a small amount of hydrogen.

This syngas is then mixed with renewable hydrogen produced from the 839MW electrolyser and passed through a metal catalyst causing “polymerisation”, where the carbon monoxide and hydrogen molecules join together to form synthetic hydrocarbons. Further refinements then burnish them into SAFs.

According to Darcy, the process represents a departure from other FT processes for SAF, which typically source all the hydrogen from the organic material used to make the syngas, which would usually be a balance of carbon monoxide and hydrogen at a ratio of roughly 2:1.


ANALYSIS | Why the US climate bill may be the single most important moment in the history of green hydrogenRead more

By tweaking gasification so the syngas is richer in carbon monoxide and then adding hydrogen from an electrolyser, DG Fuels can optimise its SAF output by a factor of almost four, with 97% of the carbon from the biomass ending up in the fuel, the company claims.

Waste water from the FT process is then used in the electrolyser, which will be supplied by Norway’s HydrogenPro.

Currently the aviation biofuel market is dominated by waste-oil-derived biofuels such as HEFA-SPK (hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids synthetic paraffinic kerosene) — in fact, more than 95% of biofuel flights to date have used HEFA-SPK fuel.

But FT technologies are catching up. In May this year, Fulcrum Bioenergy began operations at its FT-based transport fuel plant in Nevada, which uses municipal waste as a feedstock.

So far, the largest SAF commitment from an airline was made by United Airlines last year when it agreed to buy 1.5 billion gallons over 20 years from Alder Fuels, which is developing technology with US manufacturer Honeywell to make SAFs from waste forestry products via pyrolysis.

RELATED NEWS

Shanghai goes all-in on hydrogen, with plans for H2 port, pipelines and trading platform
Energy Transition
31 August 2022 19:10 GMT

Green hydrogen + captured CO2 | 'Unique and powerful' joint venture aims to produce 80,000 tonnes of aviation e-fuel annually
Energy Transition
25 July 2022 14:28 GMT

'Outrageous greenwash' | No clear role for hydrogen as critics slam UK's net-zero aviation strategy
Energy Transition
20 July 2022 16:55 GMT

Timing is key | Green hydrogen could 'supply 32% of aviation energy demand by 2050'
Energy Transition
20 July 2022 12:12 GMT

'Hydrogen long-term solution to net-zero target' | Airbus CEO sees first H2 planes on regional routes
Wind
18 July 2022 10:14 GMT
6 September 2022 13:03 GMT UPDATED 6 September 2022 13:03 GMT
By Rachel Parkes

WHY

Rooftop system converts CO2, water and sunlight into kerosene
By Michael Irving
November 03, 2021


The solar fuel reactor harnessing heat from concentrated sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into syngas
ETH Zurich

Engineers at ETH Zurich have demonstrated a pilot system that can produce fuels from sunlight and air. The device captures carbon dioxide and water from the atmosphere and uses solar energy to convert it into syngas, which is then converted into liquid fuel that’s essentially carbon neutral.

With a clearer understanding of the damage caused by human carbon dioxide emissions, there’s plenty of work being done to transition towards electric vehicles, hydrogen power, fuel cells and other sustainable forms of energy. However, these advances will require big changes to the existing infrastructure, which can slow down their implementation.

In the meantime, synthetic fuels could be a decent solution. These are made to mimic current liquid hydrocarbon fuels but are produced from renewable sources, such as biomass, waste products or carbon already in the atmosphere. And because they replace or complement fossil fuels, they can be “dropped into” existing engines and infrastructure.

In the new study, researchers at ETH Zurich developed and tested a new system that can produce these drop-in fuels using just sunlight and air. The resulting fuel is carbon neutral, releasing only as much carbon dioxide when burned as its production removed from the air originally.

The system is comprised of three units – a direct air capture unit, a solar redox unit, and a gas-to-liquid unit. The first section sucks in ambient air, and uses adsorption to pull carbon dioxide and water out of it. These are then piped into the second unit, where solar energy is harnessed to trigger chemical reactions.

A parabolic concentrator focuses sunlight by a factor of 3,000 onto the solar reactor, creating temperatures of 1,500 °C (2,732 °F). Inside the reactor is a ceramic structure made of cerium oxide, which absorbs oxygen from the incoming carbon dioxide and water, producing hydrogen and carbon monoxide – syngas.

The syngas itself could be collected for use, or it can be funneled to the third unit, where it’s converted into liquid hydrocarbon fuels like kerosene or methanol.

To test the concept, the researchers set up a small 5-kW pilot system on the roof of a building. Running for seven hours a day in intermittent sunlight, the device was able to produce 32 ml (1.1 oz) of methanol each day.

That’s not a whole lot, but the team says it shows that the concept works and could be scaled up to commercial production. A large-scale plant could look like a solar thermal power plant, with a field of concentrators focusing sunlight onto a central tower. The team calculates that a plant using 10 of these fields, each collecting 100 MW of solar radiative power, could produce 95,000 L (25,000 gal) of kerosene per day. That’s enough to get an Airbus A350 from London to New York and back again.

To cover the entire demand of kerosene in aviation, the team calculates that around 45,000 km2 (17,375 sq miles) of solar plants would be needed. Unfortunately, high upfront costs to set up these plants would make these fuels more expensive than the fossil fuels they’re replacing, so subsidies and support would be needed to get them off the ground, which may limit their viability.

The research was published in the journal Nature. Take a tour of the system in the video below

 

Illinois Tech engineer spearheads research leading to groundbreaking green propane production method

Mohammad Asadi partners with SHV Energy to distribute electrolyzer device that can convert carbon dioxide into propane in a way that is economically viable and scalable

Peer-Reviewed Publication

ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

 

IMAGE: ILLUSTRATION OF ELECTROLYZER, WHICH USES A NOVEL CATALYST TO CONVERT CARBON DIOXIDE INTO PROPANE. view more 

CREDIT: ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

CHICAGO—August 18, 2023—A paper recently published in Nature Energy based on pioneering research done at Illinois Institute of Technology reveals a promising breakthrough in green energy: an electrolyzer device capable of converting carbon dioxide into propane in a manner that is both scalable and economically viable.

As the United States races toward its target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, innovative methods to reduce the significant carbon dioxide emissions from electric power and industrial sectors are critical. Mohammad Asadi, assistant professor of chemical engineering at Illinois Tech, spearheaded this groundbreaking research. 

“Making renewable chemical manufacturing is really important,” says Asadi. “It’s the best way to close the carbon cycle without losing the chemicals we currently use daily.”

What sets Asadi’s electrolyzer apart is its unique catalytic system. It uses inexpensive, readily available materials to produce tri-carbon molecules—fundamental building blocks for fuels like propane, which is used for purposes ranging from home heating to aviation.

To ensure a deep understanding of the catalyst’s operations, the team employed a combination of experimental and computational methods. This rigorous approach illuminated the crucial elements influencing the catalyst’s reaction activity, selectivity, and stability.

A distinctive feature of this technology, lending to its commercial viability, is the implementation of a flow electrolyzer. This design permits continuous propane production, sidestepping the pitfalls of the more conventional batch processing methods.

“Designing and engineering this laboratory-scale flow electrolyzer prototype has demonstrated Illinois Tech’s commitment to creating innovative technologies. Optimizing and scaling up this prototype will be an important step toward producing a sustainable, economically viable, and energy-efficient carbon capture and utilization process,” says Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy Program Director Jack Lewnard.

This innovation is not Asadi’s first venture into sustainable energy. He previously adapted a version of this catalyst to produce ethanol by harnessing carbon dioxide from industrial waste gas. Recognizing the potential of the green propane technology, Asadi has collaborated with global propane distributor SHV Energy to further scale and disseminate the system. 

“This is an exciting development which opens up a new e-fuel pathway to on-purpose propane production for the benefit of global users of this essential fuel,” says Keith Simons, head of research and development for sustainable fuels at SHV Energy.

Illinois Tech Duchossois Leadership Professor and Professor of Physics Carlo Segre, University of Pennsylvania Professor of Materials Science and Engineering Andrew Rappe, and University of Illinois Chicago Professor Reza Shahbazian-Yassar contributed to this work. Mohammadreza Esmaeilirad (Ph.D. CHE ’22) was a lead author on the paper. 

Disclaimer: “Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Science Foundation under Award Number 2135173, the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy under Award Number DE-AR0001581, and SHV Energy. This content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Science Foundation, the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, or SHV Energy.”

Mohammad Asadi, “Imidazolium Functionalized Transition Metal Phosphide Catalysts for Electrochemical Carbon Dioxide Conversion to Ethanol,” National Science Foundation; Award Number 2135173

Mohammad Asadi, “Direct Conversion of Flue Gas to Value-Added Chemicals Using a Carbon-Neutral Process,” Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy; Award Number DE-AR0001581

---

JOURNAL

Nature Energy

DOI

10.1038/s41560-023-01314-8 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Imidazolium-functionalized Mo3P nanoparticles with an ionomer coating for electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to propane

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

17-Aug-2023

Researchers unveil a new, economical approach for producing green hydrogen

by University of Colorado at Boulder

Graphical abstract. Credit: Joule (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.joule.2023.07.016

Researchers at the University of Colorado have developed a new and efficient way to produce green hydrogen or green syngas, a precursor to liquid fuels. The findings could open the door for more sustainable energy use in industries like transportation, steelmaking and ammonia production.

The new study, published Aug. 16 in the journal Joule, focuses on the production of hydrogen or syngas, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide that can be converted into fuels like gasoline, diesel and kerosene. The CU Boulder team lays the groundwork for what could be the first commercially viable method for producing this fuel, entirely using solar energy. That might help engineers to generate syngas in a more sustainable way.

The group was led by Al Weimer, professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.

"The way I like to think about it is some day when you go to the pump you'll have, for example, unleaded, super unleaded and ethanol options, and then an additional option being solar fuel, where the fuel is derived from sunlight, water and carbon dioxide," said Kent Warren, one of two lead authors of the new study and a research associate in Chemical and Biological Engineering. "Our hope is that it will be cost-competitive to the fuels sourced from the ground."

Traditionally, engineers produce hydrogen gas through electrolysis, or using electricity to split molecules of water into hydrogen and oxygen gas. The team's "thermochemical" approach, in contrast, uses heat generated by solar rays to complete those same chemical reactions. The methods can also split molecules of carbon dioxide pulled from the atmosphere to produce carbon monoxide.

Scientists had previously shown that such an approach to making hydrogen and carbon monoxide was possible, but might not be efficient enough to produce syngas in a commercially viable manner.

In the new study, the researchers demonstrated that they can conduct these reactions at elevated pressures, in part by employing iron-aluminate materials, which are relatively inexpensive and abundant in the Earth. Those higher pressures allowed the team to more than double its production of hydrogen.

More information: Justin T. Tran et al, Pressure-enhanced performance of metal oxides for thermochemical water and carbon dioxide splitting, Joule (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.joule.2023.07.016

Journal information: Joule 

Provided by University of Colorado at Boulder 

Solar-powered chemistry uses carbon dioxide and water to make feedstock for fuels, chemicals