Is the RWGS a viable route for CO2 conversion to added value products? A techno-economic study to understand the optimal RWGS conditions

E Portillo; J Gandara-Loe; T R Reina; L Pastor-Pérez

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159394

Is the RWGS a viable route for CO₂ conversion to added value products? A techno-economic study to understand the optimal RWGS conditions

Sci Total Environ. 2023 Jan 20;857(Pt 3):159394. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159394. Epub 2022 Oct 20.

Authors

E Portillo¹, J Gandara-Loe², T R Reina³, L Pastor-Pérez³

Affiliations

¹ Chemical and Environmental Engineering Department, School of Engineering, University of Seville, Seville, Spain. Electronic address: eportillo@us.es.
² Inorganic Chemistry Department and Materials Sciences Institute, University of Seville-CSIC, Seville, Spain.
³ Inorganic Chemistry Department and Materials Sciences Institute, University of Seville-CSIC, Seville, Spain; Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom.

PMID: 36272470
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159394

Abstract

Understanding the viability of the RWGS from a thermodynamic and techno-economic angle opens new horizons within CO₂ conversion technologies. Unfortunately, profitability studies of this technology are scarce in literature and mainly focused on overall conversion and selectivity trends with tangential remarks on energy demands and process costs. To address this research gap, herein we present a comprehensive techno-economic study of the RWGS reaction when coupling with Fischer-Tropsch synthesis is envisaged to produced fuels and chemicals using CO₂ as building block. We showcase a remarkable impact of operating conditions in the final syngas product and both CAPEX and OPEX. From a capital investment perspective, optimal situations involve RWGS unit running at low temperatures and high pressures as evidenced by our results. However, from the running cost angle, operating at 4 bar is the most favorable alternative within the studied scenarios. Our findings showcase that, no matter the selected temperature the RWGS unit should be preferentially run at intermediate pressures. Ultimately, our work maps out multiple operating scenarios in terms of energy demand and process cost serving as guideline to set optimal reaction conditions to unlock the potential of the RWGS for chemical CO₂ recycling.

Keywords: CO(2) conversion technologies; CO(2) utilization; RWGS; Simulation; Techno-economic analysis.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Carbon Dioxide*
Cold Temperature*
Pressure
Recycling
Technology

Substances

Carbon Dioxide