Basic research for efficient conversion of CO2 to fuel and chemicals
Electrofuels and electrochemicals created from captured carbon dioxide, water, and green energy are believed to be one of the tools for reducing climate footprints in the future. A recently completed project within Climate-Leading Process Industry has investigated how the process of this conversion can be made more efficient.
The tandem catalyst developed in the project converts carbon dioxide and hydrogen into methanol in the first step, and in the second step, the methanol is converted into light olefins that can be used for the production of chemicals.
“I think the opportunities to use CO2 and turn it into a raw material are incredibly exciting, and there is a great deal of interest from the industry. We will continue to need fuels and chemicals,” says Louise Olsson, Professor of Chemical Engineering at Chalmers, who led the basic research project Catalytic Hydration of CO2 for Hydrocarbon Production via Methanol.
The project focused on developing a special type of tandem catalyst, which in the first step converts carbon dioxide and hydrogen into methanol, and in the second step, converts the methanol into light olefins that can be used for the production of chemicals.
The tandem catalyst combines these two steps in a single system to make the process more efficient. By continuously converting the methanol in the second step, the first step can produce more methanol without reaching a chemical equilibrium.
Comparison of Catalysts and Promoters
The researchers compared two main types of catalysts for the first step: a copper-based one and an indium-based one. They discovered that the indium-based catalysts were more effective. The indium-based catalysts were then used in combination with the zeolite SSZ-13 in the tandem process. The zeolite SSZ-13 is known for its ability to selectively produce light olefins, making it a very good partner in this system.
“By adding different substances, so-called promoters, we were able to fine-tune the indium-based catalysts to increase the process's selectivity. We tested three different promoters and will publish the results in a scientific article,” says Louise Olsson.
There is a lot of research on electrofuels and electrochemicals and the process of producing them from CO2, but there is not yet a commercial factory in Europe that manufactures e-fuels/e-chemicals on a large scale. One of the challenges is that large amounts of green electricity are needed at a competitive price.
“I believe it will take off relatively soon. The technology exists, but more research is needed to make the processes more efficient,” says Louise Olsson, who is continuing her work on the subject in the project From Synthesis Gas to Crackable Feedstock via Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis, also funded by the Climate-Leading Process Industry.
Read more about the project and access the final report
