SDR

Chemical Looping Process for Super-Dry Reforming of CO2 into CO


Project Goal

Driven by the need to develop technologies for converting large amounts of CO2, the super-dry reforming concept has been proposed and demonstrated on a small lab scale unit (g/h scale) in the Laboratory for Chemical Technology (LCT) at UGent.

Compared to regular dry reforming of (bio)methane, super-dry reforming is a strongly intensified process as it converts up to three CO2 molecules per molecule of CH4 into a pure CO stream. Taking into account that potential bio-methane production in the EU can reach up to 30Mt/y in the coming decade, this would allow to convert around 10% of current stationary point CO2 emissions into CO. This corresponds to converting more than 250 Mt/year CO2 per year! Note that, in principle, any methane rich source can be used so this figure might even be higher. In combination with renewable H2, produced for example from green electricity, CO can become a key platform molecule in a sustainable future.

The key challenge in deploying and commercializing chemical looping is the robustness and economic readiness of the oxygen carriers for long-term viable operation at industrial conditions. A large gap exists between laboratory materials, even though demonstrating excellent characteristics, and the corresponding industrial solids.

In addition to producing efficient materials on 100 kg scale, the SDR project aims to build a demonstration setup at pilot level, based on a multi-reactor configuration. As such, this project will be a major contributor to the transition from a linear to a circular economy, aiming at sustainable development by replacing the ‘end-of-life’ concept with the reuse of two of the most important greenhouse gasses: CO2 and CH4.


Project Details

Project type: LSI in MOT3 Electrification & Radical Process Transformation
Approved on: 20/12/2019
Start date: 01/01/2020 (with a maximum duration of 36 months)
Budget: €1.995.416


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