Print Email Facebook Twitter Impact of intermittent electricity supply on a conceptual process design for microbial conversion of CO2 into hexanoic acid Title Impact of intermittent electricity supply on a conceptual process design for microbial conversion of CO2 into hexanoic acid Author Luo, J. (TU Delft Energy and Industry) Pérez-Fortes, Mar (TU Delft Energy and Industry) Ibarra Gonzalez, P. (TU Delft Energy and Industry) Straathof, Adrie J.J. (TU Delft BT/Bioprocess Engineering) Ramirez, Andrea (TU Delft ChemE/Chemical Engineering) Department ChemE/Chemical Engineering Date 2024 Abstract Combining intermittent renewable electricity (IRE) with carbon capture and utilisation is urgently needed in the chemical sector. In this context, microbial electrosynthesis (MES) has gained attention. It can electrochemically produce hexanoic acid, a value-added chemical, from CO2. However, there is a lack of understanding regarding how the intermittency of renewable electricity could impact the design of a MES plant. We studied this using Aspen Plus models. A MES plant that was powered by constant grid electricity could operate from 100% down to 70% of its nominal capacity, at which point the heat exchangers and the internal geometrical design of the distillation towers became bottlenecks. The levelised production cost of hexanoic acid (LPCC6A) was estimated at 4.0 €/kg. Switching to IRE supply increased LPCC6A to 5.3 €/kg (for wind electricity) and 4.7 €/kg (for hybrid renewable electricity). A battery energy storage system (BESS) was deployed. The lowest LPCC6A was found at a BESS installation of 29 GJ/h for wind electricity (5.1 €/kg) and at 12 GJ/h for hybrid renewable electricity (4.7 €/kg). In both situations, the volume flexibility of the MES plant was not improved. At the investigated market and operating conditions, coupling IRE to the MES plant was economically infeasible. Subject Hexanoic acidIntermittent renewable electricityMicrobial electrosynthesisProcess designTechno-economic assessmentVolume flexibility To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:d672f63f-5284-4707-a3f9-a25889662fe3 DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cherd.2024.04.005 ISSN 0263-8762 Source Chemical Engineering Research & Design, 205, 364-375 Part of collection Institutional Repository Document type journal article Rights © 2024 J. Luo, Mar Pérez-Fortes, P. Ibarra Gonzalez, Adrie J.J. Straathof, Andrea Ramirez Files PDF 1-s2.0-S0263876224002077-main.pdf 3.46 MB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:d672f63f-5284-4707-a3f9-a25889662fe3/datastream/OBJ/view