The Proof of Concept that we have performed consists on the development of a zeolite-based separation process to obtain carbon dioxide-neutral fuels and chemicals. The process that we have designed is based on gas uptake and release, combining gas separation efficiency with low separation costs. To this aim we first identified the optimal zeolite structures among the more than 200 available. In a second step we did the technical testing, using these zeolites as well as the research knowledge developed within the ERC-RASPA project (www.upo.es/raspa). Finally, we validated the procedure by subcontracting an external laboratory. For this validation we used the separation of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and oxygen resulting from plasma-assisted dissociation of the former gas into the others. The two main results of this project are: (1) we now can provide a temperature swing adsorption-based process with the right sequence and performance of zeolites to separate the carbon dioxide/carbon monoxide/ oxygen mixture coming from a plasma unit. (2) We also found how to separate a mixture that originates from a steam methane reforming (SMR) for hydrogen production. ZEOSEP can have strong socioeconomic impact in the near future since the Business Case of replacing a traditional hydrogen plant (SMR front-end + Cold Box back-end) by the combination “SMR front-end + ZEOSEP back-end” lowers Fixed Capital to 43% and opex to 90%”.
