Utilization of Fossil Plant CO2 for
the Production of Syngas for
Synthetic Fuels and Chemicals
Dale Bradshaw
CEO Electrivation
423.238.4052,
dtbradshaw@electrivation.com
www.electrivation.com
Energy Storage via Liquids and Chemicals– Key to Integrating
Renewables and Managing CO2
• High Temperature Co- Electrolysis (HTCE) Generates
“Green” H2, O2, CO
– Efficient Operations @ Temperatures > 600 °C
– Power to Operate from Nuclear/Renewable Energy Sources
• HTCE Minimizes Carbon Emissions:
– Manages carbon emissions through conversion to liquid fuels
– Starting point for commercial synthetic chemical products
Operation:
 HT Steam & CO2
 Recycled CO2 from combustion
process
 O2 produced at Electrode 1 (with
use for IGCC or OxyCombustion)
 H2 & CO (Syngas) produced at
Electrode 2 for conversion to liquid
fuel and/or chemicals
INL High Temperature Steam Co-Electrolysis Testing Systems
10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm
Cell Stack
HTSE Kiln
850C for 2,500 hrs
Integrated Lab Scale;
850C for 1,000 hrs
Could Bloom Energy’s Bloom Box Solid Oxide
Fuel Cell (SOFC) be the Foundation for a large
scale HTCE system?
• Bloom Energy Bloom Box is an
SOFC that has is proving to be
very reliable in tests with ebay,
Google, Wal-Mart
• Bloom Energy Bloom Box is
currently very expensive now at
$8000/kW, but in large scale for
HTCE and in mass production
costs could drop. Breakeven for
HTCE is at about $6000/kW at
$70/BBl for liquid fuel and
$70/ton CO2 allowance price
• Bloom Box will not become cost
effective for DG until costs drop
to $1000/kW to $2000/kW
depending on financing and price
for natural gas
Oxy-Combustion Combined with HTCE
Farzan, H., Vecci, S., McDonald, D., McCauley, K, Pranda, P., Varagani, R., Gautier, F., Tranier, J.P. and Perrin, N., ”State of the Art of Oxy-Coal Combustion
Technology for CO2 Control from Coal-Fired Boilers,” Third International Technical Conference on Clean Coal Technologies for Our Future, Sardinia, Italy, May
15 - 17 (2007)
Carbon Sequestration: Oxy-Fuel Combustion, R&D Facts, NETL, www.netl.doe.gov
X
O2 fed from
HTCE Unit
H2, CO, and O2 released at 1200
to 1500 F to produce steam and
electricity
CO2/steam from Coal Plant fed to
HTCE Unit
Use of Syngas from HTCE
Near Term Use of HTSE for Existing and Future
Fossil Plants
• On-Site Production of hydrogen
for generator cooling (make up
for leakage of hydrogen)
• On-Site Production of ammonia
(with import of nitrogen or onsite
production of nitrogen and
hydrogen from HTSE) for use in:
– Selective Catalytic Reduction of
NOx
– Ammonia for chilled or aqueous
ammonia CO2 removal systems
• On-Site production of urea for
Selective Non-Catalytic
Reduction (SNCR) of NOx with
hydrogen from HTSE and CO2
imported to the plant or captured
on site
• By-product oxygen for IGCC or
OxyCombustion.
Example: Consider traditional fossil plant
Fossil Resource
100 Units Energy
CO2
Chemical
Upgrading
Energy
Oxidation
Product Fuel
As Electricity
30 to 40 Units Energy
 Oxidation of feed carbon conveniently generates
process energy
 But, it also produces non-useful CO2 emissions
Next Generation HTCE using non-fossil
energy sources
Fossil Resource
CO2
100 Units Energy
Chemical
Upgrading
Energy
Low Carbon Heat, H2
250 Units
More Product Fuel
and Electricity
125 Units “C” Mass
 Generate heat and H2 from no carbon sources
With 36 units of electricity
from syngas cooling
 Convert more input carbon into useful product
And 89 liquid fuels and
 External energy from wind, solar, biomass
chemicals
or nuclear transferred into product
HTCE and HTSE efficiency
HTCE efficiency
Summary
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HTCE can produce liquid fuels from a
Bloom Box SOFC at a forecasted
economy of scale prices of $3000/kW
plus wind at $2500/kW, CO2
allowance at $70/ton at prices less
than $40/BBl to $90/BBl depending on
cost of money
OxyCombustion plant will have about
20% higher plant output and will have
a lower capital cost because there will
be no need for an Air Separation Unit
(ASU) to produce the oxygen
HTCE is an adiabatic process. Thus
1200 F waste heat in the syngas and
oxygen will be recovered at 30%
efficiency.
As wind is available it can displace
electricity from the grid or from the
coal fired power plant to produce
chemicals
As solar is available from a
concentrating solar plant it can
supplement the high temperature
steam from the fossil plant
High Temperature Steam “Co-Electrolysis”
Plant Using a VHTR
H2/Syngas
CO2/Water
High Temperature
Source
i.e., Ultra Super
Critical Fossil Plant,
Nuclear Reactors
(HTR/VHTR)
Conclusions
• CEATI SOIG/TGIG needs $95k of collaborative funding for project
“Utilization of Fossil Plant CO2 for the Production of Syngas for
Synthetic Fuels and chemicals” and NRECA CRN has agreed to
contribute $25k.
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Transformational Technology in HTCE coupled with Fossil Energy is path to “Next
Generation” Energy Systems that Preserve U.S. Energy Security and Manage
Climate Change
Using HTCE, Energy Plants can operate at Base Load Capacity (more efficient) and
capture renewable energy via storage by converting to liquid fuels
High Temperature Steam (Co-) Electrolysis Helps manage CO2 emissions and
provides H2 for upgrading renewable energy sources (biomass)
INL has ongoing work (DOE-NE/DOD) supporting application of HTSE and HTCE to
Fossil and Renewable Energy Production ($4 million with DOD)
HTSE capable of creating regional “energy/industrial clusters” that create new jobs
plus improve national energy security
INL//CEATI Collaboration Provides Excellent Opportunity to Apply HTCE Technology
in “Living Laboratory” required to bring technology to society