Power to Fuel: How to Speed Up a Hydrogen Economy

Power to Fuel
Copyright
Contents
List of contributors
Preface
1 Introduction: the power-to-fuel concept
	1.1 Renewable energy sources and energy storage
	1.2 Power-to-fuel role in the energy transition
	1.3 Main synthetic fuels
		1.3.1 Methane
		1.3.2 Methanol
		1.3.3 Dimethyl ether
		1.3.4 Ammonia
		1.3.5 Urea
		1.3.6 Formic acid
	Nomenclature
	References
2 Low-temperature water electrolysis
	2.1 Fundamentals: water electrolysis and the oxygen evolution reaction
	2.2 Electrocatalyst modelling: state of the art
	2.3 Overview of modelling techniques and modelling length scales
		2.3.1 Macroscopic length scale and macroscopic quantities
			2.3.1.1 Reversible cell potential
			2.3.1.2 Voltage
			2.3.1.3 Open-circuit voltage
			2.3.1.4 Activation overpotential
			2.3.1.5 Mass transport overpotential
			2.3.1.6 Ohmic losses
		2.3.2 Mesoscopic length scale
		2.3.3 Microscopic length scale
	2.4 Ir-based compounds and their oxides: amorphous and crystalline phases
		2.4.1 Ir and its oxides: electrocatalysts
		2.4.2 Ir and its oxides: defects and impurities
	2.5 Challenges and opportunities of using ab initio modelling of Ir and its oxides in the OER
	2.6 Future directions and open issues of low-temperature WE
		2.6.1 Mergers, acquisitions and expansion
		2.6.2 Fundamentals: modelling of the OER catalyst and operations
			2.6.2.1 Safety
			2.6.2.2 Cost reduction
			2.6.2.3 Durability
	Acknowledgements
	Nomenclature
	References
3 High-temperature electrolysis and co-electrolysis
	3.1 Principle
		3.1.1 Physical and chemical fields inside the solid oxide electrolyser cell
			3.1.1.1 Electrochemical process
				Equilibrium potential
				Activation overpotential
				Ohmic overpotential
			3.1.1.2 Chemical process
				Chemical reactions in the solid oxide electrolyser cell
			3.1.1.3 Mass transport process
			3.1.1.4 Momentum transport process
			3.1.1.5 Heat transfer process
	3.2 High-temperature electrolysis for syngas generation
		3.2.1 Methane-assisted solid oxide electrolyser cell for H2O and CO2 co-electrolysis
		3.2.2 Carbon-assisted SOEC for H2O electrolysis and syngas generation
	3.3 Combined SOEC and F–T system for low-carbon fuel generation
		3.3.1 Chemical reactions in F–T reactor
		3.3.2 Description of the hybrid system
		3.3.3 Results and discussion
	3.4 Conclusion
	Nomenclature
	References
4 Power to methane
	4.1 Chemical route
		4.1.1 Catalysts
		4.1.2 Operational parameters
		4.1.3 Reactor structures
	4.2 Biological route
	4.3 Comparison among available technologies
	4.4 System integration
	4.5 Environmental impacts of substitute natural gas
	Nomenclature
	References
5 Power to methanol
	5.1 Methanol production from syngas
	5.2 Methanol production from carbon dioxide
	5.3 Innovative processes
		5.3.1 Coelectrolysis
		5.3.2 Biological oxidation of methane
	Nomenclature
	References
6 Power-to-DME: a cornerstone towards a sustainable energy system
	6.1 Introduction
		6.1.1 Dimethyl ether as a green fuel
		6.1.2 Dimethyl ether in fuel cells
		6.1.3 Dimethyl ether as chemical building block
		6.1.4 Other uses
	6.2 Dimethyl ether production pathways
		6.2.1 Indirect route
			6.2.1.1 Process description
			6.2.1.2 Catalysts
			6.2.1.3 CO2-based production
		6.2.2 Direct route
			6.2.2.1 CO2-based production
		6.2.3 Emerging pathways
			6.2.3.1 Reactive distillation
			6.2.3.2 Sorption based
			6.2.3.3 Membrane based
	6.3 Techno-economic insights
	6.4 Summary and outlook
	Nomenclature
	References
7 Power to ammonia and urea
	7.1 Ammonia as a bridge between agriculture, industry and energy
	7.2 Ammonia and urea synthesis
	7.3 Raw materials for ammonia and urea production
	7.4 Power to ammonia and urea
	7.5 Remarks about the social acceptance of power to ammonia
	References
8 Power to formic acid
	8.1 Formic acid as an energy carrier
	8.2 Preparation of formic acid by hydrogenation of carbon dioxide
		8.2.1 Noble metal-based homogeneous catalysts
		8.2.2 Non-noble metal-based homogeneous catalysts
		8.2.3 Homogeneous catalysts under base-free conditions
		8.2.4 Bulk metal catalysts for heterogeneous catalysis
		8.2.5 Supported metal catalysts for heterogeneous catalysis
		8.2.6 Heterogenised catalysts
			8.2.6.1 Grafted molecular catalysts
			8.2.6.2 Heterogenised porous polymers
	8.3 Preparation of formic acid by electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide
		8.3.1 Solvent and electrolyte
		8.3.2 pH and pressure
		8.3.3 Electrode materials
		8.3.4 Catalysts
			8.3.4.1 Metals and metal oxides
			8.3.4.2 Molecular complexes
			8.3.4.3 Immobilised complexes/composites/hybrid materials
			8.3.4.4 Bio-inspired electrocatalysts
	8.4 Cost of formic acid production
	8.5 Concluding remarks
	References
9 Power-to-Fuel existing plants and pilot projects
	9.1 Power-to-Methane projects
		9.1.1 Chemical methanation
		9.1.2 Biological methanation
	9.2 Power-to-Methanol projects
	9.3 Power-to-Ammonia Projects
	9.4 Statistics of projects as for number and electrolyser size
	9.5 Project geographic distribution
	References
10 Power-to-fuel potential market
	10.1 Industry
		10.1.1 Refineries
		10.1.2 Chemical sector
		10.1.3 Iron and steel production
		10.1.4 High-temperature heat generation
	10.2 Transport
		10.2.1 Cars
		10.2.2 Trucks and buses
		10.2.3 Trains
		10.2.4 Ships
		10.2.5 Aviation
	10.3 Buildings
		10.3.1 Renewable methane
		10.3.2 Hydrogen use in buildings
			10.3.2.1 Blending
			10.3.2.2 Pure hydrogen
	10.4 Power generation
		10.4.1 Renewable synthetic fuels in power generation
		10.4.2 Back-up and off-grid power
		10.4.3 Long term and large scale energy storage
	Nomenclature
	References
Index