Process design and techno-economic analysis of CO2 reformation to synthetic crude oil using H2 produced by decomposition of CH4 in a molten media

Abstract

This work introduces a new process concept for the conversion of CO2 to gas-to liquid (GTL) products. CO2 is first reformed to syngas via the reverse water gas shift reaction using hydrogen produced by catalytic thermal decomposition of CH4 in a Cu-Bi molten media. The produced syngas is then used to manufacture 30,000 bbl per day of syncrude in a low temperature Fischer-Tropsch reactor. The carbon and energy efficiencies of the GTL plant are 85 % and 35 %, respectively. The plant emits 21.1 g of CO2 per 1 MJ of syncrude when considering upstream emissions associated with the supply of natural gas and CO2 feed streams. This is at least 48 % lower than the CO2 emissions of GTL plants that reform CH4 to syngas, but is higher than water electrolysis-based GTL plants. The fixed capital investment of the plant and the manufacturing cost of syncrude are $1.81 billion and $140 bbl−1, respectively. The levelized price of the produced solid carbon is estimated to be $720 tonne-1 for a syncrude market price of $59 bbl−1.