I-Corps: Scalable conversion of carbon dioxide to value-added commodity chemicals

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是创建一个闭合环路合成碳循环，既解决二氧化碳(CO2)减排问题，也解决从废弃的二氧化碳原料中产生高价值碳氢化合物的问题。目前，化石燃料发电厂通常会排放大量二氧化碳。这里开发的工艺有可能捕获这些废弃的二氧化碳，并将其重新用于生产碳氢燃料和其他高价值碳氢化合物。这为这些发电单位提供了一个机会，可以在基于这些碳氢化合物的商业模式中增加利润率。类似的机会也可以对许多其他行业产生积极影响。这个i-Corps项目开发了一种可持续的二氧化碳再利用。反水煤气变换化学环路(RWGS-CL)工艺已显示出在低温下将CO2快速转化为CO的能力，为大规模实施奠定了基础。RWGS-CL的运行温度允许与费托工艺(FTS)进行热集成。随着FTS反应堆已经在工业规模上使用，这里开发的反应堆模块可能会在这些行业找到合适的用途。这一过程涉及到使用稳定的催化剂，这些催化剂可以循环使用几次而不会失去活性。该工艺的设计使得CO和H2O或H2不会混合，从而限制任何甲烷的形成或任何反向反应。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to create a closed loop synthetic carbon cycle that addresses both carbon dioxide (CO2) mitigation as well as generating high value hydrocarbons from waste CO2 feedstock. Currently, fossil-fuel-fired power plants typically exhibit significant emissions of CO2. The process developed here has the potential to capture this waste CO2 and repurpose it towards generation of hydrocarbon fuels and other high value hydrocarbons. It presents an opportunity for these electricity generation units to add profit margin in their business model based on these hydrocarbon chemicals. Similar opportunities are available to positively impact many other industries, as well.This I-Corps project develops a sustainable repurposing of CO2. The process, reverse water gas shift chemical looping (RWGS-CL) has demonstrated capability of converting CO2 to CO at high rates and at low temperatures, paving the way for implementation at large scale. The temperatures of operation of RWGS-CL allows for thermal integration with Fischer Tropsch process (FTS). With FTS reactors already being used in industrial scale, the reactor module developed here can potentially find an appropriate use in those industries. This process involves the use of stable catalysts that can be used for several cycles without loss of activity. The process is designed such that there is no intermixing of CO and H2O or H2, thereby restricting any methane formation or any backward reaction.