Electrosynthesis of Ethanol from CO2

CO2 电合成乙醇

• 批准号: 541427-2019
• 负责人: Sargent, Edward
• 金额: $ 30.02万
• 依托单位: University of Toronto
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Collaborative Research and Development Grants
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=698924
• 关键词: Electrosynthesis; Ethanol; CO2

The emergence of low-cost, low-carbon electricity has resulted in a significant interest in power-to-chemicals, particularly synthetic fuels, for utilization of CO2 and storage of variable electricity. Significant advances have been made in the selective and efficient conversion of CO2 to CO, with large-scale demonstration plants coming online. However, the electrosynthesis of higher valued oxygenates such as ethanol has yet to be demonstrated beyond lab scale. Ethanol is a liquid fuel that can be blended with gasoline to operate combustion engines in passenger vehicles. By using CO2 as the source, the carbon intensity of the fuel can be greatly reduced. Furthermore, ethanol generated from CO2 does not require large amounts of cropland and water to produce, as is the case with corn-derived ethanol. In this project, we will focus on the electrocatalytic synthesis of ethanol from CO2 and renewable electricity. To achieve our goal, the project will be divided into two main aims: catalyst design and system engineering. For catalyst development, we will use a combined computational and experimental approach to understand the pathway of ethanol synthesis from CO2 in order to design highly selective catalysts. For systems engineering, we will design a bench-scale flow cell system specifically to achieve high productivity for liquid fuel products. We will then work on scaling up to a micro-pilot unit capable of producing 10 L of ethanol per day. The end result of this project will be a system that can take renewable energy, CO2 and water as inputs to electrosynthesize ethanol. Through this project, the technology will be sufficiently derisked for the development of a pilot plant facility.

低成本，低碳电力的出现引起了对功率到化学物质（尤其是合成燃料）的浓厚兴趣，用于利用CO2和可变电力的储存。在二氧化碳转换为CO的选择性和高效转换中，大型示范工厂将在网上取得了重大进展。然而，较高价值的氧化酸盐（如乙醇）的电合合成尚未超出实验室规模。 乙醇是一种液体燃料，可以与汽油混合以在乘用车中操作燃烧发动机。通过使用CO2作为来源，可以大大降低燃料的碳强度。此外，由二氧化碳产生的乙醇不需要大量的农田和水来产生，就像玉米衍生的乙醇一样。 在这个项目中，我们将重点关注来自CO2和可再生电的乙醇的电催化合成。为了实现我们的目标，该项目将分为两个主要目的：催化剂设计和系统工程。 为了开发催化剂，我们将使用一种组合的计算方法和实验方法来了解CO2乙醇合成的途径，以设计高度选择性的催化剂。对于系统工程，我们将设计一个专门为液体燃料产品实现高生产率的台式流动电池系统。 然后，我们将努力扩展到每天产生10升乙醇的微型杆单元。该项目的最终结果将是一个可以将可再生能量，二氧化碳和水作为电气合成乙醇的输入的系统。通过该项目，该技术将足以开发试验工厂设施。