What if we were able to use CO2 and H2 from renewable energy sources as fuel and chemical feedstocks, and thus decrease CO2 emissions and displace fossil fuels at the same time? COZMOS has developed an energy-efficient and environmentally and economically viable conversion of CO2 to fuels and high added value chemicals via an innovative, cost-effective catalyst, reactor and process. The concept combines the sequential reactions of CO2 hydrogenation to methanol and methanol to C3 hydrocarbons in a single reactor, exploiting Le Chatelier's principle to overcome low equilibrium product yields of methanol.
The optimised catalyst allows the combined reactions, that currently run at disparate temperatures and pressures, to operate in a temperature/pressure "sweet spot", which will reduce infrastructure and provide energy and production cost savings. The concept will allow tunable production of propane and propylene depending on location, amount of available renewable energy and economic needs. Propane, being a constituent of LPG, is utilized as an easily stored fuel used for heating, cooking and transportation, whereas the more valuable product propene constitutes a very important base chemical for production e.g. of polypropylene (PP), propylene oxide (PO) and acrylonitrile (AN) all of them with an expected significant increase in demand. The integrated technology has been demonstrated at TRL5 on feedstock mimicking off-gases from the energy intensive steel and refinery industries. Markets for both propane and propene are expected to grow in the coming years, such that the COZMOS technology will contribute to achieving a Circular Economy and diversified economic base in carbon-intensive regions.
Throughout the whole value chain development, emphasis has been placed on risk-mitigation pathways and strong industrial involvement, Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) and techno-economic analysis to maximise further exploitation and industrialisation of the results. Specific attention has been paid to social acceptance, including analysis of stakeholder and end-user interests.
By the end of the project, the overall objectives of the COZMOS project have been achieved.
