A system integration for solar powered methanol synthesis

Abstract

With the rising renewable energy demand, sustainable energy storage systems become more important. Zero Emission Fuels (ZEF) is developing a solar powered methanol micro-plant that produces methanol, using water and carbon dioxide, out of the air. ZEF’s focus this far was on developing the subsystems for the micro-plant. This report is about the integration design of the different subsystems. The main integration challenge was to design a functional micro-plant concept that produces methanol at a low cost. The state-of-the-art subsystem designs were researched, and a base-case cost estimation was conducted. Next, in a scaling research it appeared optimal to implement one micro-plant per three solar panels, instead of one plant per panel. A functional configuration architecture was designed and conceptual mass producible subsystem designs were developed. These designs were used for building a scale 1:1 integration prototype and for conducting a cost analysis of the concept. The microplant concept would produce methanol at a significantly lower cost compared to the base-case. Consequently, the micro-plant reached the target cost. Design guidelines and recommendations are given for further optimising the micro-plant's integration design and costs.