Exergetic Analysis of DME Synthesis from CO 2 and Renewable Hydrogen

Marcello De Falco, Gianluca Natrella, Mauro Capocelli, Paulina Popielak, Marcelina Sołtysik, Dariusz Wawrzyńczak and Izabela Majchrzak-Kucęba
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Marcello De Falco: Unit of Process Engineering, Department of Engineering, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Via Álvaro del Portillo 21, 00128 Rome, Italy
Gianluca Natrella: Dipartimento di Ingegneria Navale, Elettrica, Elettronica e delle Telecomunicazioni—DITEN, University of Genoa, DITEN, Via all’Opera Pia 11A, 16145 Genoa, Italy
Mauro Capocelli: Unit of Process Engineering, Department of Engineering, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Via Álvaro del Portillo 21, 00128 Rome, Italy
Paulina Popielak: Department of Advanced Energy Technologies, Faculty of Infrastructure and Environment, Czestochowa University of Technology, Dabrowskiego 73, 42-201 Czestochowa, Poland
Marcelina Sołtysik: Department of Advanced Energy Technologies, Faculty of Infrastructure and Environment, Czestochowa University of Technology, Dabrowskiego 73, 42-201 Czestochowa, Poland
Dariusz Wawrzyńczak: Department of Advanced Energy Technologies, Faculty of Infrastructure and Environment, Czestochowa University of Technology, Dabrowskiego 73, 42-201 Czestochowa, Poland
Izabela Majchrzak-Kucęba: Department of Advanced Energy Technologies, Faculty of Infrastructure and Environment, Czestochowa University of Technology, Dabrowskiego 73, 42-201 Czestochowa, Poland

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 10, 1-20

Abstract: Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) is a viable solution to valorise the CO 2 captured from industrial plants’ flue gas, thus avoiding emitting it and synthesizing products with high added value. On the other hand, using CO 2 as a reactant in chemical processes is a challenging task, and a rigorous analysis of the performance is needed to evaluate the real impact of CCU technologies in terms of efficiency and environmental footprint. In this paper, the energetic performance of a DME and methanol synthesis process fed by 25% of the CO 2 captured from a natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) power plant and by the green hydrogen produced through an electrolyser was evaluated. The remaining 75% of the CO 2 was compressed and stored underground. The process was assessed by means of an exergetic analysis and compared to post-combustion Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), where 100% of the CO 2 captured was stored underground. Through the exergy analysis, the quality degradation of energy was quantified, and the sources of irreversibility were detected. The carbon-emitting source was a 189 MW Brayton–Joule power plant, which was mainly responsible for exergy destruction. The CCU configuration showed a higher exergy efficiency than the CCS, but higher exergy destruction per non-emitted carbon dioxide. In the DME/methanol production plant, the main contribution to exergy destruction was given by the distillation column separating the reactor outlet stream and, in particular, the top-stage condenser was found to be the component with the highest irreversibility (45% of the total). Additionally, the methanol/DME synthesis reactor destroyed a significant amount of exergy (24%). Globally, DME/methanol synthesis from CO 2 and green hydrogen is feasible from an exergetic point of view, with 2.276 MJ of energy gained per 1 MJ of exergy destroyed.

Keywords: carbon capture and utilization; methanol and DME production; exergy analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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