Electrolyzer Valorizing Syngas Carbon Monoxide
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Solution Overview
Problem
The high cost of carbon capture and storage in blue hydrogen production makes it economically challenging, with carbon capture adding 30% to 100% to the final cost of hydrogen gas, rendering many facilities without carbon capture and storage facilities to emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Innovation Solution
The method involves harvesting carbon monoxide from syngas production systems and using it in an electrolyzer to generate chemicals like hydrocarbons, organic acids, alcohols, or N-rich organic compounds, thereby reducing the need for carbon capture and storage by valorizing the carbon content and decreasing the overall cost of hydrogen production.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If carbon capture and storage is implemented in blue hydrogen production, then environmental impact is reduced, but production cost increases by 30% to 100%
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the harmful carbon monoxide byproduct into valuable chemical products through electrochemical reduction. The electrolyzer system reduces CO to hydrocarbons, organic acids, alcohols, and other chemicals, transforming a waste stream that requires costly capture into a source of valuable products that offsets production costs while minimizing carbon emissions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the chemical state of carbon monoxide from a gaseous byproduct to various liquid and gaseous chemical products through controlled electrochemical reduction. By adjusting electrolysis parameters such as voltage, current density, and catalyst selection, the system produces different valuable chemicals from the same CO feedstock, enabling flexible product mix optimization.
2Ease of manufacture
If carbon monoxide is emitted into the atmosphere, then production cost is reduced, but environmental harm increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of emitting carbon monoxide or implementing costly capture and storage, the patent uses the CO as a feedstock for electrochemical reduction to produce valuable chemicals. This approach eliminates the need for carbon capture infrastructure while generating revenue streams from chemical products, simultaneously reducing emissions and improving economics.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the carbon monoxide generated during syngas production to fuel the electrolyzer, which then produces valuable chemicals that can be sold or used to offset production costs. The process is self-sufficient, using the own byproduct as input for value creation without requiring external carbon sources or expensive capture facilities.
3Ease of manufacture
If carbon monoxide is used as feedstock for chemical production, then production cost decreases, but the complexity of the system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the syngas production system with the electrolyzer system, creating an integrated process where carbon monoxide from syngas production is directly fed to the electrolyzer. This consolidation eliminates the need for separate carbon capture and storage infrastructure, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining the benefit of chemical production from CO.
Solution Approach 2:
The electrolyzer system serves multiple functions: it reduces carbon monoxide to valuable chemicals, offsets production costs, minimizes carbon emissions, and potentially generates electricity through coupled systems. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate systems for each objective, simplifying the overall infrastructure required.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach lowers the production cost of blue hydrogen by converting carbon monoxide into valuable chemicals, making blue hydrogen more economically competitive with grey hydrogen and reducing the environmental impact by minimizing carbon emissions.
Implementation Method 1
Green hydrogen is dihydrogen produced without or with very limited generation of carbon byproducts such as by using renewable energy sources to power the process of generating the dihydrogen through the electrolysis of water
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems related to augmenting syngas production using electrolysis are disclosed. A disclosed method includes harvesting a volume of carbon monoxide from a syngas production system operating on a volume of natural gas, supplying the volume of carbon monoxide to a cathode area of an electrolyzer, and generating, using the volume of carbon monoxide and the electrolyzer, a volume of generated chemicals. The volume of generated chemicals is at least one of: a volume of hydrocarbons, a volume of olefins, a volume of organic acids, a volume of alcohols, and a volume of N-rich organic compounds.