Flue gas treatment by power-to-gas integration for methane and ammonia synthesis – Energy and environmental analysis

Abstract The present paper aims at assessing the carbon and energy footprint of an innovative process for carbon dioxide recycling, with flue gas as feedstock of nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Nitrogen is converted into ammonia through the Haber-Bosch process and carbon dioxide into methane via Sabatier reaction using hydrogen produced by renewable electricity excess. Carbon and energy footprint analysis of the process was assessed based on experimental data related to hydrogen production by electrolysis, methane synthesis via Sabatier reaction, energy consumption and energy output of the process units for flue gas separation, carbon dioxide methanation and ammonia synthesis. A Life Cycle Assessment method is applied, based on the experimental and computational data, both in case of renewable electricity excess and electricity from the grid. Results show that in case of renewable electricity excess, for a functional unit of 1 kg of treated flue gas, the specific carbon footprint is 0.7819 kgCO2eq and energy footprint is 50.73 MJ, which correspond to 4.012 kg and 260.3 MJ per 1 kg of produced hydrogen. In case of electricity from the grid, the specific carbon footprint is 1.550 kgCO2eq and energy footprint is 59.12 MJ per flue gas mass unit. If the carbon footprint is positive, the process indirectly leads to avoided emissions, ranging from 0.673 to 0.844 kgCO2eq kg−1fluegas, thus proving the sustainability of the proposed pathway.

[1]  Carlos Peregrina,et al.  Techno-economic and Life Cycle Assessment of methane production via biogas upgrading and power to gas technology , 2017 .

[2]  V. Uusitalo,et al.  Potential for greenhouse gas emission reductions using surplus electricity in hydrogen, methane and methanol production via electrolysis , 2017 .

[3]  Kathrin Volkart,et al.  Life Cycle Assessment of Power-to-Gas: Approaches, system variations and their environmental implications , 2017 .

[4]  Detlef Stolten,et al.  Cascaded Membrane Processes for Post-Combustion CO2 Capture , 2012 .

[5]  O. Badr,et al.  Renewable hydrogen utilisation for the production of methanol , 2007 .

[6]  Xiaoyan Ji,et al.  Energy consumption analysis for CO2 separation from gas mixtures , 2014 .

[7]  I. Dincer,et al.  Comparative life cycle assessment of various ammonia production methods , 2016 .

[8]  aeed,et al.  Gas Separation Properties of Hollow-Fiber Membranes of Polypropylene and Polycarbonate by Melt-Spinning Method , 2011 .

[9]  Beatrice Castellani,et al.  Hydrate-based removal of carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide from biogas mixtures: Experimental investigation and energy evaluations , 2014 .

[10]  Costas Tsouris,et al.  Separation of CO2 from Flue Gas: A Review , 2005 .

[11]  Moonyong Lee,et al.  Hollow fiber membrane model for gas separation: Process simulation, experimental validation and module characteristics study , 2015 .

[12]  Elena Morini,et al.  Experimental investigation and energy considerations on hydrate-based biogas upgrading with CO2 valorization , 2017 .

[13]  Luis M. Romeo,et al.  Power to Gas projects review: Lab, pilot and demo plants for storing renewable energy and CO2 , 2017 .

[14]  D. Stolten,et al.  Linking the Power and Transport Sectors—Part 1: The Principle of Sector Coupling , 2017 .

[15]  Ludger Blum,et al.  A parametric study of CO2/N2 gas separation membrane processes for post-combustion capture , 2008 .

[16]  Jianli Hu,et al.  An overview of hydrogen production technologies , 2009 .

[17]  F. Cotana,et al.  Carbon and energy footprint of the hydrate-based biogas upgrading process integrated with CO2 valorization. , 2018, The Science of the total environment.

[18]  Andrea Presciutti,et al.  Experimental Investigation on CO2 Methanation Process for Solar Energy Storage Compared to CO2-Based Methanol Synthesis , 2017 .

[19]  Yutaka Tamaura,et al.  Carbon recycling system through methanation of CO2 in flue gas in LNG power plant , 1997 .

[20]  Kornelis Blok,et al.  Feasibility of polymer membranes for carbon dioxide recovery from flue gases , 1992 .

[21]  W. L. Robb,et al.  THIN SILICONE MEMBRANES‐THEIR PERMEATION PROPERTIES AND SOME APPLICATIONS , 1968, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[22]  Mansooreh Soleimani,et al.  Carbon Dioxide Separation from Flue Gases: A Technological Review Emphasizing Reduction in Greenhouse Gas Emissions , 2014, TheScientificWorldJournal.

[23]  Federico Rossi,et al.  Comparison of hydrogen hydrates with existing hydrogen storage technologies: Energetic and economic evaluations , 2009 .

[24]  Detlef Stolten,et al.  Power to Gas: Technological Overview, Systems Analysis and Economic Assessment , 2015 .

[25]  J. Andresen,et al.  Separation of CO2 from power plant flue gas using a novel CO2 molecular basket adsorbent , 2003 .

[26]  Clem E. Powell,et al.  Polymeric CO2/N2 gas separation membranes for the capture of carbon dioxide from power plant flue gases , 2006 .

[27]  Li Zhao,et al.  How gas separation membrane competes with chemical absorption in postcombustion capture , 2011 .

[28]  Martin Kumar Patel,et al.  An integrated techno-economic and life cycle environmental assessment of power-to-gas systems , 2017 .

[29]  M. Fujii,et al.  Development of flue gas carbon dioxide recovery technology , 1992 .

[30]  Umberto Desideri,et al.  A system approach in energy evaluation of different renewable energies sources integration in ammonia production plants , 2016 .

[31]  A. Hawkes,et al.  Future cost and performance of water electrolysis: An expert elicitation study , 2017 .

[32]  Gvozden S. Tasic,et al.  Energy consumption of the electrolytic hydrogen production using Zn–Co–Mo based activators—Part I , 2011 .

[33]  R. Rossi,et al.  Use of Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell for CO2 Capture , 2012 .