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Electricity-based Fuels PDF

100 Pages·2018·3.618 MB·English
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SPRINGER BRIEFS IN APPLIED SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY Alexander Tremel Electricity-based Fuels SpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences and Technology Series editor Janusz Kacprzyk, Polish Academy of Sciences, Systems Research Institute, Warsaw, Poland SpringerBriefs present concise summaries of cutting-edge research and practical applications across a wide spectrum of fields. Featuring compact volumes of 50– 125 pages, the series covers a range of content from professional to academic. Typical publications can be: (cid:129) A timely report of state-of-the art methods (cid:129) Anintroductiontooramanualfortheapplicationofmathematicalorcomputer techniques (cid:129) A bridge between new research results, as published in journal articles (cid:129) A snapshot of a hot or emerging topic (cid:129) An in-depth case study (cid:129) Apresentation ofcore conceptsthatstudents mustunderstand inordertomake independent contributions SpringerBriefs are characterized by fast, global electronic dissemination, standard publishing contracts, standardized manuscript preparation and formatting guidelines, and expedited production schedules. On the one hand, SpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences and Technology are devoted to the publication of fundamentals and applications within the different classical engineering disciplines as well as in interdisciplinary fields that recently emerged between these areas. On the other hand, as the boundary separating fundamental research and applied technology is more and more dissolving, this series isparticularlyopentotrans-disciplinary topics between fundamentalscience and engineering. Indexed by EI-Compendex and Springerlink. More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/8884 Alexander Tremel Electricity-based Fuels 123 Alexander Tremel Siemens Corporate Technology Erlangen Germany ISSN 2191-530X ISSN 2191-5318 (electronic) SpringerBriefs inApplied SciencesandTechnology ISBN978-3-319-72458-4 ISBN978-3-319-72459-1 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72459-1 LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2017960929 ©TheAuthor(s)2018 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpart of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission orinformationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilar methodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publicationdoesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfrom therelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authorsortheeditorsgiveawarranty,expressorimplied,withrespecttothematerialcontainedhereinor for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictionalclaimsinpublishedmapsandinstitutionalaffiliations. Printedonacid-freepaper ThisSpringerimprintispublishedbySpringerNature TheregisteredcompanyisSpringerInternationalPublishingAG Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:Gewerbestrasse11,6330Cham,Switzerland Preface Traditionally, electricity is considered as the most valuable form of energy—not only from a thermodynamic perspective, but also from an economic perspective. Majortechnologicaldevelopments inenergytechnology inthelast150years were driven by the optimization of the conversion process offossil fuel into electricity. Withinamulti-modalenergysystem,thevalueofelectricityonacomparablebasis (e.g.indollarspermegawatthour)wasalwayssignificantlyhigherthanthevalueof fossil fuel or heat and cold, respectively. Also, electricity from renewable sources wastraditionallymoreexpensive—sometimesbyordersofmagnitude—thanpower generation based on fossil fuels. Duetothetraditionallyhighercost,electricity isusuallynottheprimaryenergy sourcefortheprocessandchemicalindustry.Theconversionofelectricalenergyto chemical energy iscertainly awellknown processinmany industrial applications; however,itisusuallyonlyappliedifotherprocessroutesarethermodynamicallyor chemically not possible. The production processes of metals like aluminum or chemicals like chlorine are examples for electrochemical conversion. These traditional and well established paradigms are likely to erode in the comingdecades,maybeevenyears.Wehaveseenunsubsidizedpricesofrenewable powergenerationabove70USdollarpermegawatthourin2014whichmightstill fit into the traditional paradigm. However, in 2016 renewable power auctions with prices below 30 US dollar per megawatt hour were published. Since current cost outlooks predict a further significant decrease of generation costs, it is likely that renewablepowergenerationwillbethelowestcostenergyoptioninmanycountries of the world in the next decades. Ideas for the conversion of electricity into fuels can be dated back to the last century and were motivated by the oil crises or through promises of low cost nuclear power generation. These motivations were not sustainable. I have begun thinking about the utilization of renewable electricity for fuel production during my time as research assistant at the Technical University in Munich. It was the time for technical ideas and investigations regarding the com- binationofbiomassgasificationandrenewableelectricityasfeedstocksinceatthat time renewable energy in the form of biomass was much cheaper then renewable v vi Preface electricity. It was not yet the time to focus on the techno-economic perspective since any short or medium-term commercial viability was out of reach. At Siemens Corporate Technology I have continued with theoretical and experimentalresearchinthisfieldofelectricity-basedfuels.Sincerenewablepower generation costs have significantly fallen, I focus now on electricity as main feedstock and include also the techno-economic perspective. Thisbookgivesanoverviewoftherequiredprocesschainfortheproductionof electricity-basedfuels,ofthemaintechnologiesandofthemaintechnicalandcost parameters.Sincerenewableelectricityisusuallyanintermittentsource,designand operation strategies for Power-to-Fuel plants are discussed. Cost optimal plant layouts for windy and sunny locations around the world are described and fuel production costs are derived. Finally, remaining risks and development targets are summarized and electricity-based fuels are discussed as innovative form of inter- national development assistance. First and foremost, I would like to thank my wife Christina for her continuous encouragementandespeciallyforherpatiencewiththeholidayandweekendhours I have spent on the book. She is my love, and I dedicate this book to her. I also thankmywonderfulchildrenAntonandLuisaforalwaysmakingmesmileandfor their understanding on those weekend mornings when I was writing this book instead of playing games. Finally, I like to thank my colleagues at Siemens CorporateTechnologywhoresearchnewtechnologicalpathwayswithgreatjoyand sometimes with the capacity to suffer. Today, successful research is a team sport. Erlangen, Germany Alexander Tremel October 2017 Contents 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1.1 Global Warming and Defossilization of Energy Systems. . . . . . . . 1 1.2 Defossilization of Transportation—Are Battery Electric Vehicles the Best Solution?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 1.3 Electricity-Based Fuels as Promising Low Carbon Fuels. . . . . . . . 10 1.4 Opportunities for Stakeholders in Different Fields. . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 1.5 Energy System Integration and Off-Grid Electricity Generation Potentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 1.6 Technological Pathways and Maturity of Power-to-Fuel Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 2 Electrolysis—Fundamental Technologies, Requirements and Current Status. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 2.1 Alkaline Electrolysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 2.2 Proton-Exchange-Membrane Electrolysis (PEM). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 2.3 Solid Oxide Electrolysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 3 ChemicalandBiologicalSynthesis—Basisfor GaseousandLiquid Fuels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 3.1 Today’s Chemical and Biological Synthesis Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 3.2 Current Status of Chemical Synthesis for Power-to-Fuel Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 3.3 Evaluation of Process Routes and Suitable Fuels . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 3.3.1 Process Efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 3.3.2 Plant Economics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 3.3.3 Assessment of the Different Synthesis Routes . . . . . . . . . . 44 4 Power-to-Fuel Plants—Conceptual Design and Applications. . . . . . . 47 4.1 Availability of Electricity as Design Criterion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 4.1.1 Electricity Market as Plant Design and Operation Factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 vii viii Contents 4.1.2 Plant Design and Operation Based on Renewable Generation Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 4.2 Power-to-Fuel Plant Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 4.3 Technology and Cost Outlook of Key Components . . . . . . . . . . . 55 4.3.1 Renewable Electricity Generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 4.3.2 Electrolysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 4.3.3 Carbon Capture Technologies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 4.3.4 Chemical Synthesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 4.4 Techno-economic Evaluation for Specific Scenarios . . . . . . . . . . . 62 4.4.1 Grid-Connected Plant in Germany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 4.4.2 Onshore Wind in Morocco. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 4.4.3 Offshore Wind in Chile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 4.4.4 Hydropower in Scandinavia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 4.4.5 Solar Photovoltaics in Dubai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 4.4.6 Combined Onshore Wind and Solar PV in Australia . . . . . 72 5 Evaluation and Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 5.1 Comparison of Different Power-to-Fuel Plant Concepts. . . . . . . . . 75 5.2 GHG Reduction Potential as Key for Commercial Implementation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 5.3 Value Chain and Key Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 5.4 Value of Plant Flexibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 6 Outlook: Risks and Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 6.1 Remaining Risks and Development Targets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 6.2 Opportunities for Developing Countries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 References.... .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 91 About the Author Dr.-Ing. Alexander Tremel born in Lichtenfels, Germany, studied chemical engineering at the Technische Universität München (TUM), Germany, and at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He was research assistant at the Institute for Energy Systems (TUM) in Munich and worked at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Brisbane, Australia. After final- izing his Ph.D. thesis on coal and biomass gasification Alexander joined Siemens CorporateTechnologyin2011.HeispartoftheTechnologyFieldEnergySystems and responsible for the mid and long term research strategy in energy process technology and energy storage. ix

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