Abstract
The present work analyses the techno-economic potential of Power-to-Liquid routes to synthesize Fischer-Tropsch paraffin waxes for the chemical sector. The Fischer-Tropsch production unit is supplied with hydrogen produced by electrolysis and CO2 from biogas upgrading. In the analysis, 17 preferential locations were identified in Germany and Italy, where a flow of 1 t/h of carbon dioxide was ensured. For each location, the available flow of CO2 and the capacity factors for both wind and solar PV were estimated. A metaheuristic-based approach was used to identify the cost-optimal process design of the proposed system. Accordingly, the sizes of the hydrogen storage, electrolyzer, PV field, and wind park were evaluated. The analysis studied the possibility of having different percentage of electricity coming from the electric grid, going from full-grid to full-RES configurations. Results show that the lowest cost of Fischer-Tropsch wax production is 6.00 €/kg at full-grid operation and 25.1 €/kg for the full-RES solution. Wind availability has a key role in lowering the wax cost.
Highlights
To reduce the impact of climate change derived from human activities, several solutions are being proposed and studied with different levels of maturity at international level
Due to the installation of PV, wind, and H2-storage units, the rise in the wax cost ranges from 254% to 857%, with the two most economically feasible solutions corresponding to Dargun and Güstrow, in Germany
It is to note that the cost of wax production is poorly affected by the amount of carbon dioxide entering the unit, and the main key factor is the percentage of grid electricity purchased
Summary
To reduce the impact of climate change derived from human activities, several solutions are being proposed and studied with different levels of maturity at international level In this context, the reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions towards the environment, together with a rise in the installation of renewable energy and the deployment of innovative technologies are paramount to reach such a goal [1]. H2 can be further mixed with CO2 to promote carbon dioxide utilization and synthesize non-fossil marketable compounds. In this regard, Power-to-Liquid solutions aiming at Fischer-Tropsch (FT) favour the generation of carbon-neutral hydrocarbons to decarbonize the heavy transport and chemical sector with a single application [3]. At the current date, no alternative-to-fossil commercial production for these compounds is available
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