Back to results
US 2014/0272734 A1Published application
Electrochemical device for syngas and liquid fuels production
AssigneesColorado School of Mines, Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC
InventorsRobert J. Braun, William L. Becker, Michael Penev
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention relates to methods for creating high value liquid fuels such as gasoline, diesel, jet and alcohols using carbon dioxide and water as the starting raw materials and a system for using the same. These methods combine a novel solid oxide electrolytic cell (SOEC) for the efficient and clean conversion of carbon dioxide and water to hydrogen and carbon monoxide, uniquely integrated with a gas-to-liquid fuels producing method.
Claims20
A method for producing liquid fuels, comprising:
- providing a feed stream comprising carbon dioxide and water;
- heating the feed stream to produce a heated feed stream;
- compressing an air stream to produce a pressurized air stream;
- heating the pressurized air stream to produce a heated air stream;
- reacting the heated feed stream and the heated air stream in a solid oxide electrolytic cell to form a syngas and an oxygen-containing stream, wherein the electrolytic cell comprises a cathode and an anode and a power supply;
- treating the syngas stream to produce a treated syngas stream;
- and
- converting the syngas to produce the liquid fuels.
5 more elements
A method for producing liquid fuels, comprising:
- providing a feed stream comprising carbon dioxide and water;
- removing hydrogen sulfide by scrubbing the feed stream utilizing a liquid oxidation method to form a scrubbed feed stream;
- polishing the scrubbed feed stream utilizing a zinc oxide bed to produce a polished feed stream;
- heating the polished feed stream to produce a heated feed stream, wherein the heated feed stream has a temperature between about 800° C. to about 850° C.;
- compressing an air stream to a pressure between about 1.0 bar to about 2.0 bar to produce a pressurized air stream;
- heating the pressurized air stream to produce a heated air stream, wherein the heated air stream has a temperature of about 750° C. to about 850° C.;
- reacting the heated feed stream and the heated air stream in a solid oxide electrolytic cell to form a syngas and an oxygen-containing stream;
- separating condensable components from the syngas to produce a dry syngas, wherein the condensable components comprise water, and wherein condensing comprises cooling the syngas to a temperature of less than about 50° C.;
- compressing the dry syngas to produce a pressurized syngas, wherein the pressurized syngas has a pressure of at least about 35 bar;
- heating the dry syngas to produce a heated syngas, wherein the heated syngas has a temperature of at least about 800° C.;
- splitting the dry syngas to produce a syngas side-stream and a main syngas stream, wherein the syngas side-stream comprises less than about 5 mass % of the dry syngas stream and the main syngas stream comprises the remainder of the heated syngas;
- providing the syngas side-stream utilizing a water-gas shift reactor to produce a shifted syngas stream with a hydrogen content higher than a hydrogen content of the syngas side-stream;
- separating at least a portion of the hydrogen content from the shifted syngas stream to produce a hydrogen recycle stream;
- feeding the hydrogen recycle stream to the feed stream heating step;
- and
- converting the main syngas stream to the liquid fuels.
13 more elements
A system for producing liquid fuels, comprising:
- a carbon dioxide scrubber for removing sulfur from a feed stream to produce a scrubbed feed stream;
- a heat exchanger for heating the scrubbed feed stream to produce a heated feed stream;
- a carbon dioxide polisher to produced a polished feed stream;
- a heat exchanger to produce a heated polished feed stream;
- a solid oxide electrolytic cell, wherein the cell comprises:
- a cathode, wherein the cathode receives the heated polished feed stream and produces a syngas;
- and
- an anode, wherein the anode receives an oxygen source stream;
- a condenser, wherein the condenser removes water from the syngas to produce a dehydrated syngas;
- and
- a compressor to compress the dehydrated syngas to produce a compressed syngas.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.