Periodic Reporting for period 2 - EcoFuel (Renewable Electricity-based, cyclic and economic production of Fuel)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2022-07-01 do 2023-12-31
The collaborative project EcoFuel addresses the Topic “Development of next generation renewable fuel technologies from CO2 and renewable energy (Power and Energy to Renewable Fuels)” under the call ‘Building a low-carbon, climate resilient future: Secure, clean and efficient energy’.EcoFuel develops and demonstrates a novel thorough process chain that significantly improves the energy efficiency for production of synthetic fuel out of CO2 and water using renewable energy. The process chain comprises a) the supply of CO2 from the atmosphere via a novel direct air capture approach, b) direct electro-catalytic reduction of CO2 to C2/C3 alkenes at close to ambient temperatures, and c) thermo-catalytic liquefaction of alkenes, upgrading and fractionation into transport fuels. The direct electro-catalytic CO2 reduction to hydrocarbons offers greatly enhanced efficiency potentials compared to Power-to-X technologies downstream of water electrolysis and at the same time, reduces process pathway steps.
The EcoFuel approach brings together chemists, physicists, engineers and dissemination and exploitation experts in a well-balanced mix from 4 universities/research institutions, 2 SMEs and 3 industries, joining their key technologies to develop and exploit a novel complete process chain, based on the power of electrochemistry to deliver green CO2 neutral fuels with an unprecedented overall energy efficiency. Within 36 months project duration, the EcoFuel technology underwent a thorough material and component R&D program and together with its significant industry involvement this project set on a unique path toward new technology developments up to TRL 4 resp. 5 that will have lasting impact on the European renewable energy system. Process performance was validated by in-depth impact assessment both in terms of techno economic as well as ecological.
The EcoFuel approach brings together chemists, physicists, engineers and dissemination and exploitation experts in a well-balanced mix from 4 universities/research institutions, 2 SMEs and 3 industries, joining their key technologies to develop and exploit a novel complete process chain, based on the power of electrochemistry to deliver green CO2 neutral fuels with an unprecedented overall energy efficiency. Within 36 months project duration, the EcoFuel technology underwent a thorough material and component R&D program and together with its significant industry involvement this project set on a unique path toward new technology developments up to TRL 4 resp. 5 that will have lasting impact on the European renewable energy system. Process performance was validated by in-depth impact assessment both in terms of techno economic as well as ecological.
The kick-off meeting (KOM) of EcoFuel project took place on February 17th, 2021, and in a virtual mode, as nearly all of Europe was experiencing a lock-down due to the Covid pandemic. The Covid pandemic also impacted the work at all partners throughout the first 18 months, slowing down recruitment processes, causing work restrictions in office and laboratories, and challenging communication within teams, among the consortium partners, and the networking in the community. Still, all consortium partners were able to keep to the project time schedule with minimized delays. In the second project half, further supply chain issues and spare parts availability caused a significant delay in the set-up of the DAC process step, the finalization of the co-electrolyzer, the operation of the OSU unit, finally resulting in a late start of the stability and durability testing. In the end, also due to the efforts on partner sides and the dedication of colleagues to EcoFuel project, all tasks could be performed until project end in December 2023. The first 18 months of EcoFuel project were dedicated to basic research and experimental investigations of the components and single elements of the EcoFuel process chain. Where appropriate, the initial research and experimental work was supported by dedicated literature and scientific paper studies.
In the second project periodic, the following production process related milestones were achieved:
• Design and develop a new ED-DAC technology
• Demonstration of CO2 DAC at small scale and delivery of captured CO2
• Successful synthesis of novel nanostructured, bimetallic and tandem anode OER and cathode ECO2R electrocatalysts
• Integration of the newly developed catalysts into an advanced cathode electrode architecture and optimization of its performance in preparation for scale up to industrial relevant sizes
• Scale-up operations to 300cm2-sized electrodes in a cell stack operating at ~1 kW
• OSU: Identification of a polymer for the membrane separation process, fabrication of a membrane module, and characterization thereof
• Complete set-up of stacked electrochemical system and thermo-catalytic system
• Reaction cascade to fuel products:
o Engineering and construction of electro-chemical and thermo-catalytic systems,
o Operation and validation of individual process steps under industrially relevant process conditions
o Improvement of reaction cascade for optimised synthesis of fuel products
The outstanding overall project achievements at M36:
• An alternative production pathway for an efficient, ecological and economic viable synthetic fuel developed
• TRL 4 (5) successfully achieved
• 6 patent applications
• Demonstration in reaction cascade successful
Based on the technical results achieved in EcoFuel, the project was able to provide following outlook and the business potential:
• EcoFuel fuel charge shows the potential to be qualified as drop-in fuel for transport sector application
• Potential applications of different EcoFuel pathway components identified:
o Sustainable ethylene
o Sustainable fuel
o Catalyst coated membranes (CCM) for PEM electrolysers
The technical achievements were supported by following networking and dissemination activities:
• 22 Conference presentations
• 5 further scientific publications
• Organization of a dedicated ‘EcoFuel Summit’
• Participation in the Horizon H2020 Cluster CCUS activity, working group ‘LCA on CCUS’
In the second project periodic, the following production process related milestones were achieved:
• Design and develop a new ED-DAC technology
• Demonstration of CO2 DAC at small scale and delivery of captured CO2
• Successful synthesis of novel nanostructured, bimetallic and tandem anode OER and cathode ECO2R electrocatalysts
• Integration of the newly developed catalysts into an advanced cathode electrode architecture and optimization of its performance in preparation for scale up to industrial relevant sizes
• Scale-up operations to 300cm2-sized electrodes in a cell stack operating at ~1 kW
• OSU: Identification of a polymer for the membrane separation process, fabrication of a membrane module, and characterization thereof
• Complete set-up of stacked electrochemical system and thermo-catalytic system
• Reaction cascade to fuel products:
o Engineering and construction of electro-chemical and thermo-catalytic systems,
o Operation and validation of individual process steps under industrially relevant process conditions
o Improvement of reaction cascade for optimised synthesis of fuel products
The outstanding overall project achievements at M36:
• An alternative production pathway for an efficient, ecological and economic viable synthetic fuel developed
• TRL 4 (5) successfully achieved
• 6 patent applications
• Demonstration in reaction cascade successful
Based on the technical results achieved in EcoFuel, the project was able to provide following outlook and the business potential:
• EcoFuel fuel charge shows the potential to be qualified as drop-in fuel for transport sector application
• Potential applications of different EcoFuel pathway components identified:
o Sustainable ethylene
o Sustainable fuel
o Catalyst coated membranes (CCM) for PEM electrolysers
The technical achievements were supported by following networking and dissemination activities:
• 22 Conference presentations
• 5 further scientific publications
• Organization of a dedicated ‘EcoFuel Summit’
• Participation in the Horizon H2020 Cluster CCUS activity, working group ‘LCA on CCUS’
Driven by global warming and the energy supply discussions, the necessity and importance for alternative, low-emission fuels is becoming bigger and bigger. While bio-based alternative fuels are limited regarding feedstock availability, synthetic fuels are the preferred option, also due to their low carbon intensity. Today’s drawbacks being the energy demand for the production, the related energy cost, and their large-scale availability. EcoFuel tackles the challenges of energy demand, envisaging an upscaling to industrialisation.
EcoFuel project has the aspiration to bring green fuels closer to the market and to accelerate the industrialisation. With this ambition, the major expectations of EcoFuel can be summarized as:
• improving performance of synthetic fuels as regards the efficiency, the environment and society, developing a more efficient electrochemical-based production process chain with reduced energy conversion losses
• compatible with existing engine technology and fuel infrastructure, i.e. consideration of the whole process chain (from electricity to tank to wheel)
• estimate the potential of the direct monetary impact of the more energy efficient process of EcoFuel, making green fuels economically viable
• innovation capacity, competitiveness and creation of new market opportunities
All consortium partners are deeply interested in exploiting the project innovations, and each of them may exploit assets through different paths. Due to the nature of EcoFuel project and the partners involved, the exploitation and dissemination network of the partners comprises the overall process for synthetic fuels, both producers as well as consumers, as well as technology elements and process steps of it like Direct Air Capture, electro-catalytic reduction of CO2 to C2/C3alkenes, thermo-catalytic liquefaction of alkenes, and the upgrading and fractionation to drop-in transport fuels. Finally, stakeholders interested in the economic and/or ecological viability of the process and the final product, in the industrialisation and commercialisation of the up-scaled product.
EcoFuel project has the aspiration to bring green fuels closer to the market and to accelerate the industrialisation. With this ambition, the major expectations of EcoFuel can be summarized as:
• improving performance of synthetic fuels as regards the efficiency, the environment and society, developing a more efficient electrochemical-based production process chain with reduced energy conversion losses
• compatible with existing engine technology and fuel infrastructure, i.e. consideration of the whole process chain (from electricity to tank to wheel)
• estimate the potential of the direct monetary impact of the more energy efficient process of EcoFuel, making green fuels economically viable
• innovation capacity, competitiveness and creation of new market opportunities
All consortium partners are deeply interested in exploiting the project innovations, and each of them may exploit assets through different paths. Due to the nature of EcoFuel project and the partners involved, the exploitation and dissemination network of the partners comprises the overall process for synthetic fuels, both producers as well as consumers, as well as technology elements and process steps of it like Direct Air Capture, electro-catalytic reduction of CO2 to C2/C3alkenes, thermo-catalytic liquefaction of alkenes, and the upgrading and fractionation to drop-in transport fuels. Finally, stakeholders interested in the economic and/or ecological viability of the process and the final product, in the industrialisation and commercialisation of the up-scaled product.