Important technological milestone: production of sustainable aviation fuel becomes more efficient
KIT and Sunfire succeed in Kopernikus project P2X technology upgrade for CO2-neutral production of fuels
fuels such as kerosene can be produced in a climate-friendly way fromCO2, water and green electricity using power-to-liquid processes. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have already demonstrated this with plants in real operation. Researchers in the Kopernikus project P2X have now coupled the highly efficient co-electrolysis process with fuel synthesis for the first time at an industrially relevant scale of 220 kilowatts. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is funding the project.
In order to achieve the climate targets, Europe needs green alternatives for applications that are difficult to electrify. "Air traffic in particular will be dependent on sustainably produced kerosene for the foreseeable future," says Professor Roland Dittmeyer from the Institute of Micro Process Engineering (IMVT) at KIT. "Synthetic fuels that are produced using power-to-liquid processes withCO2 from the atmosphere or biogenic sources, water and green electricity are particularly suitable." Dittmeyer is the spokesperson for the Kopernikus project P2X and leads the corresponding research work at KIT. The project has now reached an important technological milestone on the way to sustainable aviation fuel: the globally unique coupling of the innovative and highly efficient water vapor/CO2 "Co" electrolysis technology of industrial partner Sunfire on an industrially relevant scale (220 kilowatts of electrolysis power) directly with synthesis.
Co-electrolysis makes power-to-liquid more efficient
Synthetic kerosene is produced at the KIT Energy Lab in a multi-stage process in modular plants. First, synthesis gas - a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide - is produced fromCO2 and water. In principle, the synthesis gas can be produced in various ways. In the new configuration, a co-electrolysis module with an output of 220 kilowatts from industry partner Sunfire is used, which simplifies this process step and, above all, makes it more efficient. "The special thing about co-electrolysis is that it electrochemically and highly efficiently converts water vapor andCO2 directly into synthesis gas in a single step. Up to 85 percent of the electrical energy used for this is recovered as chemical energy in the synthesis gas. In addition, the coupling demonstrated that our co-electrolysis has very high system availability and reliability and was therefore able to deliver synthesis gas of the desired quality at all times," says Hubertus Richter, Senior Engineer R&D Project Management & Process Engineering at Sunfire. "This eliminates the usual separate hydrogen production with downstream synthesis gas production, which significantly increases the efficiency of the overall process towards synthetic fuels."
For the coupled operation of co-electrolysis and fuel synthesis, the researchers also integrated a compressor with safety devices into the process chain, with which the synthesis gas is brought to reaction pressure. The synthesis gas is then converted into long-chain hydrocarbons - known as syncrude - in a microstructured reactor using Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, which can be used directly to produce fuels such as kerosene or other chemical products. This reactor technology was developed by scientists at KIT and is already being commercialized by INERATEC, a spin-off from KIT. In the future, the heat generated during synthesis will also be used in the form of steam for co-electrolysis. This would further reduce the energy requirement of the entire process and demonstrate the product preparation for the target product kerosene on this scale. The combination of these process steps allows optimum utilization of the carbon dioxide used and the greatest possible energy efficiency, as the material flows within the process chain can be efficiently recycled in addition to the energy flows.
One ton of kerosene per day in the next step
Researchers at KIT successfully tested the integration of co-electrolysis in campaign operation under real conditions, producing up to one hundred liters of syncrude per day. The coupled operation marks an important milestone in the second funding phase of the Kopernikus project P2X. The plant is now being expanded for a capacity of up to 300 liters of syncrude per day. In the third and final funding phase, the research team is building a larger Fischer-Tropsch production plant in parallel through INERATEC in the Höchst Industrial Park near Frankfurt. "Production on a ton scale will be realized there for the first time," says Dittmeyer. The product, which is further processed into synthetic kerosene, will then be used in engine tests by turbine manufacturers and research partners. Accompanying analyses will ensure that the fuel meets the strict aviation standards.
About the Kopernikus project P2X
In the Kopernikus project P2X, the partners Climeworks, Sunfire, INERATEC and the Institute of Micro Process Engineering at the KIT Energy Lab are setting up and operating an integrated process chain. Following the "power-to-fuel" concept,CO2-neutral fuels, also known as e-fuels, can be produced in this way. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is funding the project. The project involves 18 partners from industry, science and civil society organizations.
Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.
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