Synergizing carbon capture and utilization in a biogas upgrading plant based on calcium chloride: Scaling-up and profitability analysis

Francisco M Baena-Moreno; T R Reina; Mónica Rodríguez-Galán; Benito Navarrete; Luis F Vilches

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143645

Synergizing carbon capture and utilization in a biogas upgrading plant based on calcium chloride: Scaling-up and profitability analysis

Sci Total Environ. 2021 Mar 1:758:143645. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143645. Epub 2020 Nov 20.

Authors

Francisco M Baena-Moreno¹, T R Reina², Mónica Rodríguez-Galán³, Benito Navarrete³, Luis F Vilches³

Affiliations

¹ Chemical and Environmental Engineering Department, Technical School of Engineering, University of Seville, C/ Camino de los Descubrimientos s/n, Sevilla 41092, Spain; Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Surrey, GU2 7XH Guildford, United Kingdom. Electronic address: fbaena2@us.es.
² Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Surrey, GU2 7XH Guildford, United Kingdom; Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Universidad de Sevilla, Instituto de Ciencias de Materiales de Sevilla Centro mixto US-CSIC, Avda. Américo Vespucio 49, 41092 Seville, Spain. Electronic address: t.ramirezreina@surrey.ac.uk.
³ Chemical and Environmental Engineering Department, Technical School of Engineering, University of Seville, C/ Camino de los Descubrimientos s/n, Sevilla 41092, Spain.

PMID: 33250242
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143645

Abstract

Herein we analyze the profitability of a novel regenerative process to synergize biogas upgrading and carbon dioxide utilization. Our proposal is a promising alternative which allows to obtain calcium carbonate as added value product while going beyond traditional biogas upgrading methods with high thermal energy consumption. Recently we have demonstrated the experimental viability of this route. In this work, both the scale-up and the profitability of the process are presented. Furthermore, we analyze three representative scenarios to undertake a techno-economic study of the proposed circular economy process. The scale-up results demonstrate the technical viability of our proposal. The precipitation efficiency and the product quality are still remarkable with the increase of the reactor size. The techno-economic analysis reveals that the implementation of this circular economy strategy is unprofitable without subsidies. Nonetheless, the results are somehow encouraging as the subsides needed to reach profitability are lower than in other biogas upgrading and carbon dioxide utilization proposals. Indeed, for the best-case scenario, a feed-in tariff incentive of 4.3 €/MWh makes the approach profitable. A sensitivity study through tornado analysis is also presented, revealing the importance of reducing bipolar membrane electrodialysis energy consumption. Overall our study envisages the big challenge that the EU faces during the forthcoming years. The evolution towards bio-based and circular economies requires the availability of economic resources and progress on engineering technologies.

Keywords: Biogas upgrading; Biomethane circular economy; Carbon capture and utilization; Green process.