Nano-structured Catalysts for CO2 Transformation to Fuels and Products

该项目将开发新的纳米级催化剂和（电）化学工艺，用于生产燃料，包括甲醇、甲烷、汽油和柴油，以及从废弃二氧化碳中提取化学产品。它建立在第一阶段成功的基础上，在第一阶段，一种新的、高度可控的纳米颗粒催化剂被开发出来，并用于从二氧化碳中生产甲醇；该反应是生产液体燃料和化学原料的一个相关例子。此外，我们还开发了高温电化学反应和反应器，用于从二氧化碳和水中生产“合成气”（一氧化碳和氢气）和氧气。在该项目的第二阶段，我们将通过整合适当的互补工艺，利用可再生能源或非高峰电力，扩大燃料的生产，包括甲醇、甲烷、汽油和柴油。随着越来越多的可再生能源与国家电网相结合，后一种选择作为管理电力负荷的一种手段尤其具有吸引力。与此同时，我们将应用我们的新型纳米催化剂，使二氧化碳与环氧化物共聚，生产聚碳酸酯多元醇，这是家用保温泡沫（聚氨酯）的成分。这种方法在商业上和环境上都很有吸引力，因为它用二氧化碳取代了30-50%的常规石化碳源（环氧化物），并且可能在相对较短的时间内实现商业化。这些共聚物本身就是有价值的产品，在解决燃料生产和能源管理的更大规模挑战之前，为该技术提供了商业规模的试验场。该计划将继续提高我们的催化剂性能和我们的认识，使二氧化碳转化为一系列有价值的产品。这项工作将与全面的过程系统分析相结合，以便制定最实际和最有价值的执行路线。我们的目标是在现有成果的基础上继续推进这项技术的商业化；研究计划将侧重于：1)催化剂的优化和放大，以最大限度地提高目标产品的活性和选择性。2)开发和优化纳米催化剂的工艺条件和工程，包括测试和模拟新的反应器设计。3)工艺集成和工程，以实现串联催化和高效生产可再生燃料，包括与利用非高峰电力可用性的可再生能源发电集成。4)详细的经济、能源、环境和生命周期过程分析。我们将与工业伙伴密切合作，确保这些技术的实用性，并解决应用的主要潜在障碍。我们有一个由七家公司组成的工业咨询委员会，代表整个价值链的利益相关者，包括：意昂、国家电网、林德、庄信万丰、西蒙卡维斯、经济技术和壳牌。

This project will develop new nanometre-sized catalysts and (electro-) chemical processes for producing fuels, including methanol, methane, gasoline and diesel, and chemical products from waste carbon dioxide. It builds upon a successful first phase in which a new, highly controlled nanoparticle catalyst was developed and used to produce methanol from carbon dioxide; the reaction is a pertinent example of the production of a liquid fuel and chemical feedstock. In addition, we developed high temperature electrochemical reactions and reactors for the production of 'synthesis gas' (carbon monoxide and hydrogen) and oxygen from carbon dioxide and water. In this second phase of the project, we shall extend the production of fuels to include methanol, methane, gasoline and diesel, by integrating suitably complementary processes, using energy from renewable sources or off-peak electricity. The latter option is particularly attractive as a means to manage electricity loads as more renewables are integrated with the national power grid. In parallel, we will apply our new nanocatalysts to enable the copolymerization of carbon dioxide with epoxides to produce polycarbonate polyols, components of home insulation foams (polyurethanes). The approach is both commercially and environmentally attractive due to the replacement of 30-50% of the usual petrochemical carbon source (the epoxide) with carbon dioxide, and may be commercialised in the relatively near term. These copolymers are valuable products in their own right and provide a commercial-scale proving ground for the technology, before addressing integration into the larger scale challenges of fuel production and energy management.The programme will continue to improve our catalyst performance and our understanding, to enable carbon dioxide transformations to a range of valuable products. The work will be coupled with a comprehensive process systems analysis in order to develop the most practical and valuable routes to implementation. Our goal is to continue to build on our existing promising results to advance the technology towards commercialisation; the research programme will focus on:1) Catalyst optimization and scale-up so as to maximise the activities and selectivities for target products.2) Development and optimization of the process conditions and engineering for the nanocatalysts, including testing and modelling new reactor designs.3) Process integration and engineering to enable tandem catalyses and efficient generation of renewable fuels, including integration with renewable energy generation taking advantage of off-peak electrical power availability.4) Detailed economic, energetic, environmental and life cycle analysis of the processes.We will work closely with industrial partners to ensure that the technologies are practical and that key potential impediments to application are addressed. We have a team of seven companies which form our industrial advisory board, representing stakeholders from across the value chain, including: E.On, National Grid, Linde, Johnson Matthey, Simon Carves, Econic Technologies, and Shell.