Abstract

A chemical plant layout for the production of syngas from renewable power, H2O and biogas, is presented to ensure a steady productivity of syngas with a constant H2-to-CO ratio under time-dependent electricity provision. An electrolyzer supplies H2 to the reverse water-gas shift reactor. The system compensates for a drop in electricity supply by gradually operating a tri-reforming reactor, fed with pure O2 directly from the electrolyzer or from an intermediate generic buffering device. After the introduction of modeling assumptions and governing equations, suitable reactor parameters are identified. Finally, two optimal control problems are investigated, where computationally expensive model evaluations are lifted viaparareal and necessary objective derivatives are calculated via the continuous adjoint method. For the first time, modeling, simulation, and optimal control are applied to a combination of the reverse water-gas shift and tri-reforming reactor, exploring a promising pathway in the conversion of renewable power into chemicals.

Highlights

  • In the context of energy transition towards carbon-free drivers for the chemical and fuel industry, electricity from renewable sources plays a primary role

  • A layout for a chemical plant that aims at a syngas production at constant flowrate and a H2-to-CO-ratio of 2 suitable for FischerTropsch synthesis from renewable power, H2O and biogas was presented

  • The plant included a reverse water-gas shift (RWGS) reactor, which was to be used unless power shortage prevented the operation of the electrolyzer and the H2 supply for the RWGS unit

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Summary

Introduction

In the context of energy transition towards carbon-free drivers for the chemical and fuel industry, electricity from renewable sources plays a primary role. Availability constraints are associated with the use of renewable electrical power. Engeland et al (2017) introduced the notion of climate related energy (CRE), which encompasses wind-, solar-power and, partly, hydro-power. Its intermittent provision on the daily and hourly time-scale is attributable to the temporal trends of the related natural source and other factors, such as wind velocity, solar radiation, and atmospheric precipitation. The intermittent nature of the supply as well as the consumer demand contribute to price volatility. As reported by Schill (2014), positive residual power loads in the grid occur whenever demand exceeds the generation of CRE

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