Direct synthesis of hydrocarbons from co-electrolysis solid oxide cell
AssigneeUniversity of South Carolina
InventorsFanglin Chen, Libin Lei, Tong Liu, Shumin Fang
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Abstract
A hydrocarbon generation system that combines a solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) and a Fischer-Tropsch unit in a single microtubular reactor is described. This system can directly synthesize hydrocarbons from carbon dioxide and water. High temperature co-electrolysis of H2O and CO2 and low temperature Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) process are integrated in a single microtubular reactor by designation of a temperature gradient along the axial length of the microtubular reactor. The microtubular reactor can provide direct conversion of CO2 to hydrocarbons for use as feedstock or energy storage.
Claims11
A hydrocarbon generation system comprising:
- a plurality of microtubular reactors in an array, each microtubular reactor including
- a first region including a cathode and an anode in electrical communication with one another and an oxygen ion conducting electrolyte between the cathode and the anode,
- a second region including a Fischer-Tropsch reaction catalyst in fluid communication and downstream of the cathode;
- and
- a temperature control unit configured to provide the first region at a first temperature that is greater than a second temperature of the second region, wherein each microtubular reactor defines a continuous space, such that the first region and second region are in contact producing a temperature gradient along each microtubular reactor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.