RedShift Energy, Inc. — Department of Energy SBIR Phase I: C56-25f

Description

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) conversion to useful products and chemicals is very energy-expensive without using a co-reactant with a higher formation enthalpy. A dry reforming of methane (DRM) CO2 + CH4 ? 2CO + 2H2 ?H = 247.1 kJ is potentially large-scale process that utilizes methane (CH4) or natural gas (NG) as a high formation enthalpy co-reactant for CO2 conversion to a valuable commodity, syngas. This well-known process is not commercialized because of multiple technical issues including the requirement of significant additional energy to support the endothermal reaction. Plasma assistance enables to use renewable electric energy for the endothermal reaction support thus avoiding additional CO2 emission associated with the fossil fuel use in energy-intensive processes. The project goal is the development of a scalable catalyst-free energy-efficient plasma-assisted DRM technology with a high selectivity and the absence of soot among the products. Catalyst-free plasma has very high productivity per unit of volume which means low capital cost of the proposed technology. Phase 1 of the proposed project has a goal to demonstrate the feasibility of the soot-free DRM with a high conversion degree in a scalable electric arc-based plasma. To accomplish this goal, the following major objectives have been identified: develop a proprietary arc plasmatron and appropriate power supply; develop an experimental system for safe testing of the process; run tests on the system for collecting and analyzing the data. An additional objective will be reached after the submission of the Phase 2 proposal: run the tests on syngas composition variations using steam addition. Success of the proposed project will result in emergence of CO2-negative technology for syngas production based on the use of the renewable electric energy that enables the production of at least 50% more syngas from the same amount of natural gas in comparison with the state-of-the-art Steam Methane Reforming (SMR). The proposed technology promises a reduction of the syngas production cost by at least a factor of two in current economic conditions. This cost-effective technology will help drive down costs of syngas-based chemical products, e.g., synthetic liquid fuels. High efficiency of the proposed technology from small scale to large one will enable small-scale production of syngas and reduce the point source CO2 emissions. Because of the low inertia of plasma processes, the technology can benefit from periodical drops in renewable electric energy costs.