IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v375y2024ics0306261924013552.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Modeling, optimization and comparative assessment of power-to-methane and carbon capture technologies for renewable fuel production

Author

Listed:
  • Furst, Oscar
  • Wehrle, Lukas
  • Schmider, Daniel
  • Dailly, Julian
  • Deutschmann, Olaf

Abstract

Power-to-X systems which convert electrical energy into stable chemical energy carriers are a promising solution to the long-term energy storage challenge posed by the increasing market penetration of intermittent renewable power sources. In this paper, a systematic and flexible method for optimizing the steady-state operating conditions of Power-to-Methane (PtM) plant concepts is showcased and applied to perform a comparative assessment of a multitude of PtM process chains. As opposed to existing studies, a large number of comprehensive PtM system models integrating multiple carbon capture technologies and Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cell (SOEC) stacks are optimized. Using detailed 3D SOEC stack simulations and interpolation-based model reduction, the performance of electrolyte-supported (ESC) and cathode-supported cells (CSC) integrated in a variety of PtM systems with air and pure oxygen sweep gas concepts is compared. A total of 20 plant concepts using different combinations of carbon capture (biomass gasification, amine gas treatment, direct air capture) and methanation (fixed-bed, slurry bubble column) technologies are investigated using the pinch method. The results demonstrate that thermal integration of the carbon capture process in PtM systems can raise the total efficiency of the process chains by up to 10.9% for direct air capture and 10.4% for amine gas treatment, with the plants reaching high heating value efficiencies of 70.2% and 84.6% respectively. Endothermic, high temperature operation of SOECs is shown to consistently yield the highest PtM efficiencies due to the minimization of cell overpotentials and power inverter losses. Conversely, exothermic operation of SOECs thermally integrated with energy-intensive carbon capture processes is shown to significantly lower capital expenditures (CAPEX) while incurring an efficiency loss lower than 1% compared to thermoneutral operation.

Suggested Citation

  • Furst, Oscar & Wehrle, Lukas & Schmider, Daniel & Dailly, Julian & Deutschmann, Olaf, 2024. "Modeling, optimization and comparative assessment of power-to-methane and carbon capture technologies for renewable fuel production," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 375(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:375:y:2024:i:c:s0306261924013552
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2024.123972
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261924013552
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2024.123972?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Parra, David & Zhang, Xiaojin & Bauer, Christian & Patel, Martin K., 2017. "An integrated techno-economic and life cycle environmental assessment of power-to-gas systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 440-454.
    2. Hidalgo, D. & Martín-Marroquín, J.M., 2020. "Power-to-methane, coupling CO2 capture with fuel production: An overview," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    3. Bailera, Manuel & Lisbona, Pilar & Romeo, Luis M. & Espatolero, Sergio, 2017. "Power to Gas projects review: Lab, pilot and demo plants for storing renewable energy and CO2," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 292-312.
    4. Wang, Ligang & Pérez-Fortes, Mar & Madi, Hossein & Diethelm, Stefan & herle, Jan Van & Maréchal, François, 2018. "Optimal design of solid-oxide electrolyzer based power-to-methane systems: A comprehensive comparison between steam electrolysis and co-electrolysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 1060-1079.
    5. Gassner, M. & Maréchal, F., 2008. "Thermo-economic optimisation of the integration of electrolysis in synthetic natural gas production from wood," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 189-198.
    6. Koytsoumpa, Efthymia Ioanna & Karellas, Sotirios & Kakaras, Emmanouil, 2019. "Modelling of Substitute Natural Gas production via combined gasification and power to fuel," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 1354-1370.
    7. Christelle Bou Malham & Assaad Zoughaib & Rodrigo Rivera Tinoco & Thierry Schuhler, 2019. "Hybrid Optimization Methodology (Exergy/Pinch) and Application on a Simple Process," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-34, August.
    8. Ebrahim, Mubarak & Kawari, Al-, 2000. "Pinch technology: an efficient tool for chemical-plant energy and capital-cost saving," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 65(1-4), pages 45-49, April.
    9. Bos, M.J. & Kersten, S.R.A. & Brilman, D.W.F., 2020. "Wind power to methanol: Renewable methanol production using electricity, electrolysis of water and CO2 air capture," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    10. Kasper T. Møller & Drew Sheppard & Dorthe B. Ravnsbæk & Craig E. Buckley & Etsuo Akiba & Hai-Wen Li & Torben R. Jensen, 2017. "Complex Metal Hydrides for Hydrogen, Thermal and Electrochemical Energy Storage," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-30, October.
    11. Gorre, Jachin & Ortloff, Felix & van Leeuwen, Charlotte, 2019. "Production costs for synthetic methane in 2030 and 2050 of an optimized Power-to-Gas plant with intermediate hydrogen storage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C), pages 1-1.
    12. Ghaib, Karim & Ben-Fares, Fatima-Zahrae, 2018. "Power-to-Methane: A state-of-the-art review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P1), pages 433-446.
    13. Thema, M. & Bauer, F. & Sterner, M., 2019. "Power-to-Gas: Electrolysis and methanation status review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 775-787.
    14. Koytsoumpa, Efthymia Ioanna & Karellas, Sotirios, 2018. "Equilibrium and kinetic aspects for catalytic methanation focusing on CO2 derived Substitute Natural Gas (SNG)," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 536-550.
    15. Buttler, Alexander & Spliethoff, Hartmut, 2018. "Current status of water electrolysis for energy storage, grid balancing and sector coupling via power-to-gas and power-to-liquids: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 2440-2454.
    16. Ruggero Bellini & Ilaria Bassani & Arianna Vizzarro & Annalisa Abdel Azim & Nicolò Santi Vasile & Candido Fabrizio Pirri & Francesca Verga & Barbara Menin, 2022. "Biological Aspects, Advancements and Techno-Economical Evaluation of Biological Methanation for the Recycling and Valorization of CO 2," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-34, June.
    17. Nechache, Aziz & Hody, Stéphane, 2021. "Alternative and innovative solid oxide electrolysis cell materials: A short review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    18. Wang, Ligang & Rao, Megha & Diethelm, Stefan & Lin, Tzu-En & Zhang, Hanfei & Hagen, Anke & Maréchal, François & Van herle, Jan, 2019. "Power-to-methane via co-electrolysis of H2O and CO2: The effects of pressurized operation and internal methanation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 250(C), pages 1432-1445.
    19. Jalili, Mohammad & Ghazanfari Holagh, Shahriyar & Chitsaz, Ata & Song, Jian & Markides, Christos N., 2023. "Electrolyzer cell-methanation/Sabatier reactors integration for power-to-gas energy storage: Thermo-economic analysis and multi-objective optimization," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 329(C).
    20. Wang, Ligang & Chen, Ming & Küngas, Rainer & Lin, Tzu-En & Diethelm, Stefan & Maréchal, François & Van herle, Jan, 2019. "Power-to-fuels via solid-oxide electrolyzer: Operating window and techno-economics," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 174-187.
    21. Khan, Muhammad Usman & Lee, Jonathan Tian En & Bashir, Muhammad Aamir & Dissanayake, Pavani Dulanja & Ok, Yong Sik & Tong, Yen Wah & Shariati, Mohammad Ali & Wu, Sarah & Ahring, Birgitte Kiaer, 2021. "Current status of biogas upgrading for direct biomethane use: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    22. Blanco, Herib & Nijs, Wouter & Ruf, Johannes & Faaij, André, 2018. "Potential of Power-to-Methane in the EU energy transition to a low carbon system using cost optimization," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 232(C), pages 323-340.
    23. Solarte-Toro, Juan Camilo & González-Aguirre, Jose Andrés & Poveda Giraldo, Jhonny Alejandro & Cardona Alzate, Carlos A., 2021. "Thermochemical processing of woody biomass: A review focused on energy-driven applications and catalytic upgrading," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    24. Drechsler, Carsten & Agar, David W., 2020. "Intensified integrated direct air capture - power-to-gas process based on H2O and CO2 from ambient air," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 273(C).
    25. Wehrle, Lukas & Schmider, Daniel & Dailly, Julian & Banerjee, Aayan & Deutschmann, Olaf, 2022. "Benchmarking solid oxide electrolysis cell-stacks for industrial Power-to-Methane systems via hierarchical multi-scale modelling," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 317(C).
    26. Qi, Meng & Lee, Jaewon & Hong, Seokyoung & Kim, Jeongdong & Liu, Yi & Park, Jinwoo & Moon, Il, 2022. "Flexible and efficient renewable-power-to-methane concept enabled by liquid CO2 energy storage: Optimization with power allocation and storage sizing," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
    27. Khan, Muhammad Imran & Yasmin, Tabassum & Shakoor, Abdul, 2015. "Technical overview of compressed natural gas (CNG) as a transportation fuel," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 785-797.
    28. Sarah Deutz & André Bardow, 2021. "Life-cycle assessment of an industrial direct air capture process based on temperature–vacuum swing adsorption," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 6(2), pages 203-213, February.
    29. Varone, Alberto & Ferrari, Michele, 2015. "Power to liquid and power to gas: An option for the German Energiewende," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 207-218.
    30. Zhao, Bin & Liu, Fangzheng & Cui, Zheng & Liu, Changjun & Yue, Hairong & Tang, Siyang & Liu, Yingying & Lu, Houfang & Liang, Bin, 2017. "Enhancing the energetic efficiency of MDEA/PZ-based CO2 capture technology for a 650MW power plant: Process improvement," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P1), pages 362-375.
    31. Jeanmonod, Guillaume & Wang, Ligang & Diethelm, Stefan & Maréchal, François & Van herle, Jan, 2019. "Trade-off designs of power-to-methane systems via solid-oxide electrolyzer and the application to biogas upgrading," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 247(C), pages 572-581.
    32. Motylinski, Konrad & Wierzbicki, Michal & Kupecki, Jakub & Jagielski, Stanislaw, 2021. "Investigation of off-design characteristics of solid oxide electrolyser (SOE) operating in endothermic conditions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 277-285.
    33. Perpiñán, Jorge & Bailera, Manuel & Peña, Begoña & Romeo, Luis M. & Eveloy, Valerie, 2023. "Technical and economic assessment of iron and steelmaking decarbonization via power to gas and amine scrubbing," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Qi, Meng & Park, Jinwoo & Landon, Robert Stephen & Kim, Jeongdong & Liu, Yi & Moon, Il, 2022. "Continuous and flexible Renewable-Power-to-Methane via liquid CO2 energy storage: Revisiting the techno-economic potential," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    2. Hermesmann, M. & Grübel, K. & Scherotzki, L. & Müller, T.E., 2021. "Promising pathways: The geographic and energetic potential of power-to-x technologies based on regeneratively obtained hydrogen," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    3. Calise, Francesco & Cappiello, Francesco Liberato & Cimmino, Luca & Dentice d’Accadia, Massimo & Vicidomini, Maria, 2023. "Dynamic simulation and thermoeconomic analysis of a power to gas system," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    4. Eveloy, Valerie, 2019. "Hybridization of solid oxide electrolysis-based power-to-methane with oxyfuel combustion and carbon dioxide utilization for energy storage," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 550-571.
    5. Fózer, Dániel & Volanti, Mirco & Passarini, Fabrizio & Varbanov, Petar Sabev & Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír & Mizsey, Péter, 2020. "Bioenergy with carbon emissions capture and utilisation towards GHG neutrality: Power-to-Gas storage via hydrothermal gasification," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 280(C).
    6. Máté Zavarkó & Attila R. Imre & Gábor Pörzse & Zoltán Csedő, 2021. "Past, Present and Near Future: An Overview of Closed, Running and Planned Biomethanation Facilities in Europe," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-27, September.
    7. Wehrle, Lukas & Schmider, Daniel & Dailly, Julian & Banerjee, Aayan & Deutschmann, Olaf, 2022. "Benchmarking solid oxide electrolysis cell-stacks for industrial Power-to-Methane systems via hierarchical multi-scale modelling," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 317(C).
    8. Zoltán Csedő & Máté Zavarkó & Balázs Vaszkun & Sára Koczkás, 2021. "Hydrogen Economy Development Opportunities by Inter-Organizational Digital Knowledge Networks," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-26, August.
    9. Valerie Eveloy & Tesfaldet Gebreegziabher, 2018. "A Review of Projected Power-to-Gas Deployment Scenarios," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-52, July.
    10. Chauvy, Remi & Dubois, Lionel & Lybaert, Paul & Thomas, Diane & De Weireld, Guy, 2020. "Production of synthetic natural gas from industrial carbon dioxide," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    11. Pintér, Gábor, 2024. "The development of global power-to-methane potentials between 2000 and 2020: A comparative overview of international projects," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 353(PA).
    12. Daniarta, S. & Sowa, D. & Błasiak, P. & Imre, A.R. & Kolasiński, P., 2024. "Techno-economic survey of enhancing Power-to-Methane efficiency via waste heat recovery from electrolysis and biomethanation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    13. Pignataro, Valeria & Liponi, Angelica & Bargiacchi, Eleonora & Ferrari, Lorenzo, 2024. "Dynamic model of a power-to-gas system: Role of hydrogen storage and management strategies," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).
    14. Gábor Pörzse & Zoltán Csedő & Máté Zavarkó, 2021. "Disruption Potential Assessment of the Power-to-Methane Technology," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-21, April.
    15. Katla, Daria & Węcel, Daniel & Jurczyk, Michał & Skorek-Osikowska, Anna, 2023. "Preliminary experimental study of a methanation reactor for conversion of H2 and CO2 into synthetic natural gas (SNG)," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(PD).
    16. Eveloy, Valerie & Gebreegziabher, Tesfaldet, 2019. "Excess electricity and power-to-gas storage potential in the future renewable-based power generation sector in the United Arab Emirates," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 426-450.
    17. Wang, Ligang & Chen, Ming & Küngas, Rainer & Lin, Tzu-En & Diethelm, Stefan & Maréchal, François & Van herle, Jan, 2019. "Power-to-fuels via solid-oxide electrolyzer: Operating window and techno-economics," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 174-187.
    18. Qi, Meng & Vo, Dat Nguyen & Yu, Haoshui & Shu, Chi-Min & Cui, Chengtian & Liu, Yi & Park, Jinwoo & Moon, Il, 2023. "Strategies for flexible operation of power-to-X processes coupled with renewables," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    19. Zhang, Hanfei & Desideri, Umberto, 2020. "Techno-economic optimization of power-to-methanol with co-electrolysis of CO2 and H2O in solid-oxide electrolyzers," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    20. Böhm, Hans & Zauner, Andreas & Rosenfeld, Daniel C. & Tichler, Robert, 2020. "Projecting cost development for future large-scale power-to-gas implementations by scaling effects," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:375:y:2024:i:c:s0306261924013552. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.