Efficient production of renewable hydrocarbon fuels using waste CO2 and green H2 by integrating Fe-based Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and olefin oligomerization

Abstract

Recently, Power-to-Liquids (PtL) and Power-to-Gas (PtG) technologies have been regarded as promising pathways for renewable energy storage and CO2 mitigation. Herein, we newly proposed two PtL/PtG hybrid processes (Cases A and B) by integrating the Fe-based Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) synthesis and olefin oligomerization, to further enhance the production of value-added liquid hydrocarbons. The process modelling and case study were implemented to evaluate their process performances by using Aspen Plus. In addition, the effects of different feeding conditions (i.e., CO/CO2 feeding) and process configurations (i.e., F-T synthesis only or two-stage reactor) were also comparatively analyzed. It is found that both Cases A and B are efficient technologies for converting CO2 into value-added hydrocarbons, and Case A is found to be more beneficial in the aspects of the carbon and thermal efficiencies, and net CO2 reduction. While, Case B is competitive in producing high-value liquid hydrocarbons. Moreover, the options of CO2 feeding and two-stage reactor are more preferable than the options of CO feeding and F-T synthesis only, and both Cases A and B are more competitive in the aspects of syncrude production, thermal efficiency, and CO2 reduction, as compared to the Base cases 1–3.