electrochemical CO2 conversion to formate and products

Aanleiding

To achieve the 2030 climate goals and a circular, carbon-neutral industry by 2050, the chemical and electricity sectors face a dual challenge: reducing their carbon footprint while increasing production and affordability.

Electrochemistry bridges these industries to produce high-value products, enhance energy storage, and cut emissions. Using captured CO2 and renewable energy like wind and solar, chemicals like formic acid can be produced. Formic acid serves as a flexible energy/hydrogen carrier and, after fermentation, as renewable feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel.

With low energy input requirements, electrochemical CO2-to-formic acid conversion holds significant potential. However, the business case is not yet viable, requiring further development to reduce costs, boost efficiency, and assess the environmental impacts.

Doelstelling

The main aim of this project is to accelerate the development of electrochemical CO2 conversion technologies towards formic acid (a commodity chemical) using renewable electricity and non-fossil CO2.

More specifically, we aim to:

1. Reduce costs and increase energy efficiency, such that these technologies can be implemented in industry within 10 years.
2. Contribute to CO2 emission reduction and carbon circularity in the chemical industry.
3. Establish a worldwide technology export position for high-tech process and equipment suppliers.

This is in line with innovation theme 2 of the MOOI mission Industry, sustainable raw materials and intermediates based on CO and CO2. Main benefits for technology providers are an improved business case and value creation. Benefits for all players in the value chain include ecosystem building and validation of utilization routes.

Korte omschrijving

TNO will enhance their low-pressure electrochemical reactor to produce potassium formate, lead the Techno-Economic and Market assessments, and coordinate the overall project.

GAFT will enhance their high-pressure electrochemical reactor to produce potassium formate and advance their bioprocess technology to convert formic acid into fatty acids, providing high-quality feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel. They will develop, test, and validate an integrated high-pressure CO2 electrolyzer and ED-BPM system to produce 50% and 85% formic acid at a scale of liters/hour.

Waterfuture will enhance their ED-BPM and ED system to produce 50% and 85% formic acid from formate. The University of Twente will advance new, highly water-permeable low-cost BPMs, benchmarking them against commercial BPMs. DENS will develop and test a dehydrogenization reactor, using 85% concentrated formic acid instead of the current version which uses 99% fossil-based formic acid.

All partners and Advisory Board members will engage in stakeholder events and knowledge dissemination, as well as contribute to TEA's on electrochemical CO2 conversion to formic acid and the developed utilization routes.

Resultaat

An integrated system of a high-pressure CO2 electrolyzer and ED-BPM system with a daily capacity of 15L formic acid validated in a research Fieldlab (FLIE).

Key achievements include:

• A 40% OPEX reduction (due to KOH reclaiming and increase in energy efficiency).
• A 30% CAPEX reduction (due to new/cheaper membranes and electrodes) compared to the current unintegrated system.

A low-pressure CO2 electrolyzer validated in the lab shows:

• A 20% decrease in cell voltage.
• A two-fold increase in current density.
• A Faradaic efficiency increase to 50-80%.
• A 30% reduction in specific energy consumption to 3.8 kWh/kg.
• A system lifetime of at least 1000 hours.

Additionally, a novel design of a dehydrogenization reformer which can handle 85% concentrated formic acid has been developed. An optimized fermentation process produces 80-300 L of biomass, while lipid extraction yields increase by 50%, ensuring sufficient quality for HEFA (hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids) companies adhering to SAF specifications.

Techno-economic assessments are conducted on CO2 conversion to formic acid and its utilization for SAF feedstock and as an energy/hydrogen carrier.