Electro-fuel production process design in low-carbon energy systems

气候变化是本世纪的决定性挑战，应对它需要迅速和大幅减少能源系统的二氧化碳排放。关于如何实现这些减排的研究各不相同，但一致认为，世界既需要更多地采用可变的可再生能源，也需要为需要的能源部门，如工业和航空，以可持续的方式生产低碳液体和气体燃料。实现这一目标的一种方法是将电子燃料生产过程整合到主要由低碳电源提供服务的能源系统中。最近的研究主要集中在这些电解槽中发生的化学反应和电极-电解液界面所需的材料上，但对在不断发展的能源系统中优化电子燃料生产技术性能的设计选择和操作策略却鲜有涉及。现有的少数研究集中在电极-电解液界面以外的成分上，很少使用高保真过程模型。此外，它在电厂周围画出了分析边界，忽略了电力系统对这些系统应该采用的最优设计和运行策略的影响。取而代之的是，工厂被假定在高负荷率和最佳运行条件下运行，以降低电子燃料生产的水平成本。这项研究的目标是优化设计选择和运营战略，使电子燃料生产过程能够补充灵活的能源系统。通过这样做，该计划将对我们在动态环境中的系统集成和流体控制知识做出基础性贡献，重点关注电极-电解液界面之外的创新性能，以提高性能，例如动态流体控制、多模块部署以及与工厂平衡的优化热集成。这项研究将开发高保真的过程模型，并将它们集成到能源系统的大规模优化模型中，以产生关于过程循环将如何在模拟真实世界条件的系统中展开的新知识。简而言之，该计划将从首要原则出发，制定电子燃料生产过程的最佳设计选择和运营策略，以补充低碳能源系统。该计划将有助于实现加拿大的社会经济和环境目标，并提升其在低碳能源转型中的领导地位。尽管电子燃料生产在低碳能源转型中是一个很有希望的候选产品，但这项研究产生的知识也将适用于其他灵活的能源系统资产，其中许多资产将需要进行高水平的集成和动态控制，而本研究将对这些资产进行优化。

Climate change is the defining challenge of this century and responding to it requires rapid and deep reductions in the emissions of carbon dioxide from the energy system. Studies differ on how to achieve these reductions, but there is consensus that the world needs both greater adoption of variable renewable energy and sustainable ways of producing low-carbon liquid and gaseous fuels for energy sectors that need them, such as industry and aviation. One way of achieving this is through integrating electro-fuel production processes into energy systems served primarily by low-carbon electricity sources. Recent research has focused on the chemical reactions that occurs in these electrolyzers and the materials that are required at the electrode-electrolyte interface, but sheds little light on the design choices and operational strategies that would optimize the performance of electro-fuel production technologies in an evolving energy system. The little existing research that does focus on components outside the electrode-electrolyte interface rarely employs high-fidelity process models. Moreover, it draws the analytical boundary around the plant, ignoring the effect of the power system on the optimal design and operational strategy that these systems should employ. Instead, plants are assumed to run at high load factors and optimal operating conditions to reduce the levelized cost of electro-fuel production. The objective of this research is to optimize design choices and operational strategies that would enable electro-fuel production processes to complement flexible energy systems. In doing so, the program will make fundamental contributions to our knowledge of system integration and fluid control in dynamic environments, focusing on the performance of innovations outside the electrode-electrolyte interface to improve performance, such as dynamic fluid control, multi-module deployment, and optimized heat integration with the balance of plant. The research will develop high-fidelity process models and integrate them into large-scale optimization models of the energy system to generate new knowledge about how process cycling will unfold in systems that simulate real-world conditions. In short, the program will develop, from first principles, optimal design choices and operating strategies for electro-fuel production processes to complement low-carbon energy systems. This program will contribute to achieving Canada's socio-economic and environmental goals and advance its leadership in the low-carbon energy transition. Although electro-fuel production is a promising candidate for deployment in a low-carbon energy transition, the knowledge generated by this research will also be applicable to other flexible energy system assets, many of which will need to engage in high levels of integration and dynamic control that this research will optimize.