Carbon Dioxide and Water Reduction by Co-Electrolysis with High Electrical Efficiency

高电效率共电解二氧化碳和水还原

• 批准号: RGPIN-2018-05676
• 负责人: Kesler, Olivera
• 金额: $ 2.4万
• 依托单位: University of Toronto
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=713781
• 关键词: Carbon; Dioxide; Water; Reduction; Co

Renewable energy decreases air pollution, fossil fuel dependence, and greenhouse gas emissions, but its intermittent nature makes energy storage essential. In addition, transportation over long distances or with high power needs is not easily achieved without liquid fuels. Solid oxide electrolysis cells have the potential to contribute to the solution of both of these problems. Solid oxide electrolysis (SOE) is a high-temperature process that converts electrical and thermal energy into chemical energy. SOECs can convert their own waste heat of operation into stored chemical energy, allowing 100% conversion of electrical to chemical energy. Even more exciting is the ability of SOECs to incorporate externally-available heat (e.g. from a nuclear power plant, industrial process, solar, or geothermal source) into stored chemical energy, allowing for even lower electricity use. Electrolysis is most environmentally beneficial when it uses renewable electricity or baseload nuclear power at times when electricity production exceeds the grid demand. Nuclear baseload cannot be rapidly ramped up or down in response to changing loads, and wind power and cloud cover affecting solar power are not fully predictable and can change rapidly. Electrolysis can also provide economic benefits by using electricity to produce fuel at times when electricity costs are lowest, and then using the fuel to generate electricity at times when the electricity cost is highest. Reversible SOEC systems can further enhance the environmental profile of the grid compared to electrolysis alone by not only making fuel with high efficiency, but also by converting the fuel back to electricity at much higher efficiencies compared to burning the fuel in a gas turbine (GT), since reversible SOECs generate no air pollution, unlike GT-based power generation. Despite these advantages, significant research challenges must be solved. One such challenge is the re-design of SOECs to lower their cost and improve their durability, which in turn requires new manufacturing methods for the fabrication of SOEC electrolyte and electrode layers. Another challenge is the design and fabrication of new fuel electrodes with high durability when converting carbon dioxide back into fuel to close the carbon loop. The proposed research program tackles these challenges, with the goal of improving the durability and performance of high-efficiency, zero-pollution SOEC energy storage and conversion technology.

可再生能源减少了空气污染、化石燃料依赖和温室气体排放，但其间歇性使得储能变得至关重要。此外，如果没有液体燃料，就很难实现长距离或高电力需求的运输。固体氧化物电解池有可能有助于解决这两个问题。固体氧化物电解（SOE）是一种将电能和热能转化为化学能的高温过程。 SOEC 可以将自身的运行废热转化为储存的化学能，实现电能 100% 转化为化学能。更令人兴奋的是 SOEC 能够将外部可用的热量（例如来自核电站、工业过程、太阳能或地热源）整合到储存的化学能中，从而降低用电量。 当电力生产超过电网需求时，电解使用可再生电力或基本负荷核电时对环境最有利。核基荷无法根据负载变化而快速上升或下降，风电和影响太阳能的云量也无法完全预测，并且可能会迅速变化。电解还可以通过在电费最低时使用电来生产燃料，然后在电费最高时使用燃料发电来提供经济效益。与单独的电解相比，可逆 SOEC 系统不仅可以高效地生产燃料，而且与燃气轮机 (GT) 中燃烧燃料相比，可以以更高的效率将燃料转化回电力，从而进一步改善电网的环境状况，因为与基于 GT 的发电不同，可逆 SOEC 不会产生空气污染。 尽管有这些优势，但仍必须解决重大的研究挑战。其中一项挑战是重新设计 SOEC 以降低其成本并提高其耐用性，这反过来又需要新的制造方法来制造 SOEC 电解质和电极层。另一个挑战是设计和制造在将二氧化碳转化回燃料以闭合碳循环时具有高耐用性的新型燃料电极。拟议的研究计划旨在解决这些挑战，目标是提高高效、零污染 SOEC 能量存储和转换技术的耐用性和性能。