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 method for generating hydrocarbons using a solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) and a Fischer-Tropsch unit in a single microtubular reactor is described. This method can directly synthesize hydrocarbons from carbon dioxide and water. The method integrates high temperature co-electrolysis of H2O and CO2 and low temperature Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) process in a single microtubular reactor by designation of a temperature gradient along the axial length of the microtubular reactor. In practice, methods disclosed herein can provide direct conversion of CO2 to hydrocarbons for use as feedstock or energy storage.
Claims13
A method for generating hydrocarbons, the method comprising:
- heating a first region of a microtubular reactor to a first temperature, the first region of the microtubular reactor including a cathode and an anode in electrical communication with one another and an oxygen ion conducting electrolyte between the cathode and the anode;
- flowing a feed stream to the cathode of the first region, the feed stream including H2O and CO2;
- and
- collecting a hydrocarbon downstream of a second region of the microtubular reactor, the second region being downstream of the first region and being at a second temperature that is lower than the first temperature, the second region including a Fischer-Tropsch reaction catalyst in fluid communication and downstream of the cathode,
- wherein the microtubular reactor defines a continuous space, such that the first region and second region are in contact producing a temperature gradient along the microtubular reactor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.