Fuel decarbonisation

Thermo-environomic optimisation of fuel decarbonisation alternative processes for hydrogen and power production.
To meet the CO2 reduction targets and to ensure a reliable energy supply, the development and wide scale deployment of cost-competitive innovative low-carbon energy technologies is essential. Switching to renewable resources and CO2 capture and storage in power plants, are regarded as promising alternatives. To design and evaluate the competitiveness of such complex integrated energy conversion systems, a systematic comparison including thermodynamic, economic and environmental considerations is required.
This research deals with the development of a systematic thermo-environomic optimisation strategy, combining energy integration techniques, life cycle assessment and multi-objective optimization, for the conceptual design omparison and optimisation of natural gas/coal and biomass fed processes generating H2 and electricity with CO2 capture. The energetic, economic and environmental cost of carbon capture are evaluated and compared for several process options in order to assess trade-offs to support decision-making.

The process performance is systematically compared and the trade-offs are assessed to support decision-making and identify optimal process configurations with regard to the polygeneration of H2, electricity, heat and captured CO2. It appears that the various process options are in competition, even with conventional plants without CO2 capture when a carbon tax is introduced. The choice of the optimal configuration is defined by the production scope and the priorities given to the different thermo-environomic criteria.

Keywords:

• CO2 capture and storage
• Thermo-environomic optimisation

Links: EPFL Thesis N°5655

CARMA project

Contacts: Dr. Laurence Tock

Publication List: