SUNSOLr

Electrification of chemical conversions

Publieke samenvatting / Public summary

Aanleiding
In the Dutch climate agreement, the objective has been formulated to reduce CO2 emissions by the Dutch industries by around 30 Mton in 2030. Electrification of the industry will play a major role in achieving these objectives and it is projected that before 2050 around 100 TWh of the industrial energy demands can be electrified. This translates into a decrease of ca. 20 Mton emitted CO2. 20 Mton is ca. 15% of the current CO2 emissions of the Netherlands. In this project we focus on new technologies for direct electrification of chemical conversions.

Doelstelling
The project aims to initiate and develop novel technologies for electrification of chemical conversions of CO2 and H2O/H2. We take two approaches: i) direct electrification of chemical conversions via electrocatalysis of pre-captured CO2, and ii) direct electrification of integrated CO2 capture and conversion. Target products are CO, CH4, olefins and methanol.

Korte omschrijving
The project is structured in 4 work-packages: 1. Electrochemical CO2 reduction in supercritical CO2 medium to HCOOH, H2C=CH2 or CH4 2. Single-step electrochemical conversion of CO2 to methanol using proton-conducting ceramic cells 3. Electrification of integrated DAC and conversion to light hydrocarbons 4. Techno-economic optimization and benchmarking of different platform molecules synthesis routes

Resultaat
1) The scientific basis for the investigated processes is known, described, and verified. 2) The routes investigated are mutually compared and ranked, and suggestions for improvement and integration are done. 3) Process design and evaluation data are transferred to the industrial partners. 4) 5 high quality R&D experts ready to start their career.