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DOE OSTI2012

Extended Platinum Nanotubes as Fuel Cell Catalysts

Energy consumption has relied principally on fossil fuels as an energy source; fuel cells, however, can provide a clean and sustainable alternative, an answer to the depletion and climate change concerns of fossil fuels. Within proton exchange membrane fuel cells, high catalyst cost and poor durability limit the commercial viability of the device. Recently, platinum nanotubes (PtNTs) were studied as durable, active catalysts, providing a platform to meet US Department of Energy vehicular activity targets.[1] Porous PtNTs were developed to increase nanotube surface area, improving mass activity for oxygen reduction without sacrificing durability.[2] Subsurface platinum was then replaced with palladium, forming platinum-coated palladium nanotubes.[3] By forming a core shell structure, platinum utilization was increased, reducing catalyst cost. Alternative substrates have also been examined, modifying platinum surface facets and increasing oxygen reduction specific activity. Through modification of the PtNT platform, catalyst limitations can be reduced, ensuring a commercially viable device.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗

DOE OSTI2012

Computational Analysis of the Pyrolysis of ..beta..-O4 Lignin Model Compounds: Concerted vs. Homolytic Fragmentation

The thermochemical conversion of biomass to liquid transportation fuels is a very attractive technology for expanding the utilization of carbon neutral processes and reducing dependency on fossil fuel resources. As with all such emerging technologies, biomass conversion through gasification or pyrolysis has a number of obstacles that need to be overcome to make these processes cost competitive with the refining of fossil fuels. Our current efforts have focused on the investigation of the thermochemistry of the linkages between lignin units using ab initio calculations on dimeric lignin model compounds. All calculations were carried out using M062X density functional theory at the 6-311++G(d,p) basis set. The M062X method has been shown to be consistent with the CBS-QB3 method while being significantly less computationally expensive. To date we have only completed the study on the b-O4 compounds. The theoretical calculations performed in the study indicate that concerted elimination pathways dominate over bond homolysis reactions under typical pyrolysis conditions. However, this does not mean that concerted elimination will be the dominant loss process for lignin. Bimolecular radical chemistry could very well dwarf the unimolecular pathways investigated in this study. These concerted pathways tend to form stable, reasonably non-reactive products that would be more suited producing a fungible bio-oil for the production of liquid transportation fuels.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

DOE OSTI2015

Improving Catalyst Efficiency in Bio-Based Hydrocarbon Fuels; NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory)

This article investigates upgrading biomass pyrolysis vapors to form hydrocarbon fuels and chemicals using catalysts with different concentrations of acid sites. It shows that greater separation of acid sites makes catalysts more efficient at producing hydrocarbon fuels and chemicals. The conversion of biomass into liquid transportation fuels has attracted significant attention because of depleting fossil fuel reserves and environmental concerns resulting from the use of fossil fuels. Biomass is a renewable resource, which is abundant worldwide and can potentially be exploited to produce transportation fuels that are less damaging to the environment. This renewable resource consists of cellulose (40–50%), hemicellulose (25–35%), and lignin (16–33%) biopolymers in addition to smaller quantities of inorganic materials such as silica and alkali and alkaline earth metals (calcium and potassium). Fast pyrolysis is an attractive thermochemical technology for converting biomass into precursors for hydrocarbon fuels because it produces up to 75 wt% bio-oil,1 which can be upgraded to feedstocks and/or blendstocks for further refining to finished fuels. Bio-oil that has not been upgraded has limited applications because of the presence of oxygen-containing functional groups, derived from cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, which gives rise to high acidity, high viscosity, low heating value, immiscibility with hydrocarbons and aging during storage. Ex situ catalytic vapor phase upgrading is a promising approach for improving the properties of bio-oil. The goal of this process is to reject oxygen and produce a bio-oil with improved properties for subsequent downstream conversion to hydrocarbons.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

DOE OSTI2015

Combined Sustainability Assessment and Techno-Economic Analysis for the Production of Biomass-Derived High-Octane Gasoline Blendstock

Conversion technologies for biomass to liquid hydrocarbon fuels are being actively developed. Converting biomass into advanced hydrocarbon fuels requires detailed assessments to help prioritize research; techno-economic analysis (TEA) is a long established tool used to assess feasibility and progress. TEA provides information needed to make informed judgments about the viability of any given conceptual conversion process; it is particularly useful to identify technical barriers and measure progress toward overcoming those barriers. Expansion of the cellulosic biofuels industry at the scale needed to meet the Renewable Fuel Standard goals is also expected to have environmental impacts. Hence, the success of the biofuels industry depends not only on economic viability, but also on environmental sustainability. A biorefinery process that is economically feasible but suffers from key sustainability drawbacks is not likely to represent a long-term solution to replace fossil-derived fuels. Overarching concerns like environmental sustainability need to be addressed for biofuels production. Combined TEA and environmental sustainability assessment of emerging pathways helps facilitate biorefinery designs that are both economically feasible and minimally impactful to the environment. This study focuses on environmental sustainability assessment and techno-economic analysis for the production of high-octane gasoline blendstock via gasification and methanol/dimethyl ether intermediates. Results from the conceptual process design with economic analysis, along with the quantification and assessment of the environmental sustainability, are presented and discussed. Sustainability metrics associated with the production of high-octane gasoline include carbon conversion efficiency, consumptive water use, life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions, fossil energy consumption, energy return on investment and net energy value.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

DOE OSTI2016

Pilot-Scale Demonstration of a Fully Integrated Commercial Process for Converting Woody Biomass into Clean Biomass Diesel Fuel

The economic recovery of petroleum, like other fossil fuels, is limited. Although the current price of oil has dramatically dropped due to increased production and new production methods, it is not expected to remain low for an extended period of time as demand increases. While new methods of obtaining these fossil energy reserves are constantly being invented and introduced, the cost of production generally continues to increase. New sources of energy such as fracking and oil shale or oil sands recovery can produce enormous amounts of energy, but at a severe cost. The current estimate on energy return for energy invested for oil shale for instance is just barely over 1, meaning that for every barrel of energy produced by oil shale there was nearly a barrel of energy invested to recover it. Furthermore, these new technologies are often constantly under attack for environmental concerns (especially given the poor ratio of energy conversion), while conventional oil is regarded as dangerous due to lack of domestic supply and susceptibility to foreign intervention that compromises overall national security. Alternatives to a petroleum-based supply of fuel are a potential route to address these issues, although they must also be economically feasible. The fuels industry is forced to consider these issues in addition to federal mandates intended to gradually diversify our fuel sources.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

DOE OSTI2015

Hybrid Energy: Combining Nuclear and Other Energy Sources

The leading cause of global climate change is generally accepted to be growing emissions of greenhouse gas (GHG) as a result of increased use of fossil fuels [1]. Among various sources of GHG, the global electricity supply sector generates the largest share of GHG emissions (37.5% of total CO2 emissions) [2]. Since the current electricity production heavily relies on fossil fuels, it is envisioned that bolstering generation technologies based on non-emitting energy sources, i.e., nuclear and/or renewables could reduce future GHG emissions. Integrated nuclear-renewable hybrid energy systems HES) are very-low-emitting options, but they are capital-intensive technologies that should operate at full capacities to maximize profits. Hence, electricity generators often pay the grid to take electricity when demand is low, resulting in negative profits for many hours per year. Instead of wasting an excess generation capacity at negative profit during off-peak hours when electricity prices are low, nuclear-renewable HES could result in positive profits by storing and/or utilizing surplus thermal and/or electrical energy to produce useful storable products to meet industrial and transportation demands. Consequently, it is necessary (1) to identify key integrated system options based on specific regions and (2) to propose optimal operating strategy to economically produce products on demand. In prioritizing region-specific HES options, available resources, markets, existing infrastructures, and etc. need to be researched to identify attractive system options. For example, the scarcity of water (market) and the availability of abundant solar radiation make solar energy (resource) a suitable option to mitigate the water deficit the Central-Southern region of the U.S. Thus, a solar energy-driven desalination process would be an attractive option to be integrated into a nuclear power plant to support the production of fresh water in this region. In this work, we introduce a particular HES option proposed for a specific U.S. region and briefly describe our modeling assumptions and procedure utilized for its analysis. Preliminary simulation results are also included addressing several technical characteristics of the proposed nuclear-renewable HES.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2016

Chapter 8 - Challenges and Opportunities for International Trade in Forest Biomass. In the book Mobilisation of Forest Bioenergy in the Boreal and Temperate Biomes.

In an effort to reduce fossil fuel consumption, the use of woody biomass for heat and power generation is growing. Key destination markets will be countries within the European Union (EU), particularly the United Kingdom (UK), the Netherlands, Denmark, and Belgium. While demand from Asia (particularly South Korea and Japan) will also increase, it will continue to play a secondary role. Across the EU, adoption of sustainability criteria for forest biomass based on the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) 2009/28/EC or similar criteria is likely. In the UK, the largest market for traded wood pellets, such criteria have already been proposed. As of 2015, only forest biomass that achieves at least a 60% reduction in GHG emissions relative to the EU fossil fuel electricity average can be used for bioenergy production, and proof of Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) is required. In the Netherlands, the energy industry and non-governmental organizations achieved principal agreement on sustainability criteria for solid biomass, but issues of compliance testing and monitoring must still be addressed. In Flemish Belgium, the sustainability requirements for bioliquids may soon be applied to woody biomass. In Denmark, a voluntary industry agreement is set to ensure that all bioenergy production by 2019 is conducted sustainably. At present, internationally traded wood pellets from temperate and boreal biomes originate primarily from the United States (US), Canada, and Russia. Among these, Canada offers large stretches of SFM-certified forests, but the US Southeast has seen the strongest increase in wood pellet production and export in recent years. The expansion of pellet production in the US Southeast is mainly linked to available forest inventory (pulpwood in particular)and the competitive advantage gained by the relative proximity to demand markets in the EU. In addition to the mobilization barriers observed in supply chains at the local and national scale, limitations in the supply of forest biomass for international trade will be influenced by regulatory measures that could restrict the trade of specific feedstock fractions.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

DOE OSTI2019

CO 2 Capture Going BIG

“Currently, the world is way off track in meeting the Paris Agreement climate goals. It cannot get back on track without CCS”. This statement, issued by the Global CCS Institute in its recent report on The Global Status of CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage), underlines the importance of developing new methods and technologies to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, the atmospheric CO 2 concentration has increased from 280 to 410 parts per million (ppm), which is a 46% increase. Most of the added CO 2 can be attributed to fossil fuel emissions from energy production (i.e., burning coal, natural gas, and oil) and other industries (e.g., cement, steel). The CO 2 level will likely continue to rise in the coming decades, as the world population and the energy consumption continue to increase and rely on fossil fuels. While the Earth’s ecosystems have mechanisms for reducing the amounts of CO 2 present in the atmosphere, absorbing roughly half of our annual emissions, the other half, consisting of about 18 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide per year, will have to be addressed through CCS technologies. At the same time, the global average temperature has already risen about 1 °C over the course of the 20th century, and will likely exceed the 1.5 °C increase limit in a few decades. Undeniably, as the Earth is out of energy balance with the current atmospheric composition, there is more warming in the pipeline even if the global emissions were to be cut to zero today. A recent report from the U.S. National Academy of Sciences concluded that limiting the increase in the global temperature to less than 2 °C by the end of this century becomes exceedingly challenging without large-scale deployment of Negative Emissions Technologies (NETs). NETs, such as Direct Air Capture (DAC), remove CO 2 out of the atmosphere, in effect reducing past emissions. They also can address dispersed emissions from transportation and buildings, which currently account to about 50% of global annual emissions.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗

DOE OSTI2019

Techno-Economic Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment for Guiding Bioenergy Pathway Development

The Center for Bioenergy Innovation (CBI) is a bioenergy research center recently launched by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science's Biological and Environmental Research program. CBI's objective is to enable innovations across the bioenergy supply chain through development of poplar and switchgrass phenotypes, microorganisms for consolidated bio-processing (CBP), in which biomass fermentation and conversion is accomplished in a single unit operation, and lignin valorization processes. In addition to basic science, CBI's activities involve the application of techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) to the bioenergy pathways under study. TEA and LCA is used to quantify the impacts that research and development breakthroughs have on the economic viability and sustainability of a bioenergy pathway, and to identify drivers for reducing costs and improving sustainability through targeted research efforts. Combining TEA and LCA allows for understanding the economic and sustainability benefits and trade-offs of these integrated bioenergy systems. The focus of this presentation is a parameterized, integrated TEA-LCA model, which will be discussed along with an application to bioenergy pathways currently under study. The model combines data and information developed by CBI researchers into a superstructure of potential bioenergy pathways and their life cycles. Model parameters include feedstock species and phenotype, farming, harvesting, storage and transportation practices, and the microbes used for biomass conversion and lignin valorization, among others. The parameterized TEA-LCA model allows for the rapid quantification of pathway economic and sustainability metrics such as minimum fuel selling price, payback period, fossil fuel consumption and net greenhouse gas emissions. To demonstrate the model, economic and sustainability metrics for a bioenergy pathway utilizing CBP will be quantified and compared to the same metrics for a conventional bioenergy pathway. Results of the comparison will be used to identify and prioritize high-impact research areas within the CBP pathway. fermentation and conversion is accomplished in a single unit operation, and lignin valorization processes. In addition to basic science, CBI's activities involve the application of techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) to the bioenergy pathways under study. TEA and LCA is used to quantify the impacts that research and development breakthroughs have on the economic viability and sustainability of a bioenergy pathway, and to identify drivers for reducing costs and improving sustainability through targeted research efforts. Combining TEA and LCA allows for understanding the economic and sustainability benefits and trade-offs of these integrated bioenergy systems. The focus of this presentation is a parameterized, integrated TEA-LCA model, which will be discussed along with an application to bioenergy pathways currently under study. The model combines data and information developed by CBI researchers into a superstructure of potential bioenergy pathways and their life cycles. Model parameters include feedstock species and phenotype, farming, harvesting, storage and transportation practices, and the microbes used for biomass conversion and lignin valorization, among others. The parameterized TEA-LCA model allows for the rapid quantification of pathway economic and sustainability metrics such as minimum fuel selling price, payback period, fossil fuel consumption and net greenhouse gas emissions. To demonstrate the model, economic and sustainability metrics for a bioenergy pathway utilizing CBP will be quantified and compared to the same metrics for a conventional bioenergy pathway. Results of the comparison will be used to identify and prioritize high-impact research areas within the CBP pathway.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

DOE OSTI2019

Implementation of Ion Exchange Processes on Industrial Waste Streams for CO 2 Mineralization

Economic development and population growth will lead to an increase in global energy consumption. Large coal-fired power plants (>500 MW) account for almost half of the total CO 2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion, and nearly 26% of the global fossil fuel and industry CO 2 emissions. Long-term management of the more than 36 Gt of CO 2 that is emitted globally per year is urgently needed. CO 2 mineralization is an attractive method of sequestering CO 2 because it captures CO 2 as an insoluble carbonate mineral, mimicking the natural process of rock weathering. Here, we present a pathway for accelerated CO 2 mineralization enabled by divalent cations sourced from liquid streams. In this work, we investigate a mineralization route that converts flue gas CO 2 to precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) using waste aqueous streams as the calcium source. The proposed mineralization route integrates CO 2 utilization and waste liquid management at coal power plants. Maintaining alkalinity during carbonation is the primary challenge in this process. Instead of relying on the consumption of costly and unsustainable sources of alkalinity (e.g., sodium hydroxide), we used regenerable solids to increase the pH of water by ion exchange. The increase in alkalinity creates a more thermodynamically favorable environment for calcite precipitation. The capacities for ion exchange of various commercially available zeolites and ion exchange resins in CO 2 -saturated water were studied through batch equilibrium and column ion-exchange experiments. During ion exchange, H + in the water exchanges with Na + , Ca 2+ or K + in the zeolite or resin. Batch equilibrium isotherms for H + –Na + exchange were collected by first adding varying amounts of the ion exchange solid (0 – 1.0 kg per kg of water) to CO 2 -saturated water (pCO 2 = 1 atm, pH 4) to determine the maximum H + –Na + exchange achievable. Ion-exchange column studies were performed to determine breakthrough capacity of the system. In both systems, an increase in pH coupled with an increase in Na concentration was observed, demonstrating the feasibility of forward ion exchange. Zeolitic materials increased the alkalinity of the solution from pH 4 to around 10, whereas ion exchange resins containing weakly acidic functional groups (e.g., carboxylic acid) exhibited higher affinity for H + , increasing pH to 11.3 and surpassing the pH shift induced by the zeolitic materials. The extent of calcite precipitation was evaluated by mixing the alkaline CO 3 2- -rich water obtained after passing through the ion-exchange column and a CaCl 2 solution. Calcite yields are as expected from chemical thermodynamics. Calcium carbonate yields found experimentally were about 26 and 8 mmol per kg water for the weakly acidic ion exchange resin and zeolitic materials, respectively. The results from these studies indicate that ion exchange processes can be used as an alternative to the addition of stoichiometric inorganic bases (e.g., sodium hydroxide) to induce alkalinity for the consequent precipitation of CaCO 3 . Instead, weakly acidic ion exchange resins commonly used for water hardness removal were alternatively used to induce pH swings in the aqueous solutions. The high calcium carbonate yields obtained for the materials examined demonstrate the potential application of this process. In addition, the successful operation of the calcium carbonate production process at standard temperature and pressure conditions support its potential for industrial implementation.

Simonetti, Dante↗

DOE OSTI2019

Developing Analytical Techniques for Modeling Construction/Infrastructure of Energy Systems - ISSST2019

This work was presented at the International Symposium on Sustainable Systems and Transportation (ISSST) 2019 Conference in Portland, OR on June 25, 2019. Using detailed component-level cost estimates for new fossil power plants as documented in Cost and Performance Baseline for Fossil Energy Plants Volume 1a: Bituminous Coal (PC) and Natural Gas to Electricity Revision 3, economic demands for the construction of a power plant and the manufacturing of its components are estimated. The model produces national average construction impact results for the life cycle of a power plant. This output highlights areas of further research that help to define valuable data collection efforts.

Carlson, Derrick R.↗

DOE OSTI2017

Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment for Power Plant Construction

This work was presented at the International Symposium on Sustainable Systems and Transportation (ISSST) 2017 Conference in Chicago, IL on June 27, 2017. The presentation covers the building of the model, the NETL baseline reports as data sources for the construction model, and application of the model to fossil energy construction. It also presented a comparison of economic input-output models to process-based models, the potential for the economic models to fill data gaps in process-based construction models for construction and infrastructure, the increasing importance of construction to the life cycle of energy systems, and potential future applications of this modeling outside of fossil energy systems.

Skone, Timothy J.↗

DOE OSTI2020

Analyzing Next-Generation Supply Chains Using the Materials Flows through Industry Tool

The Materials Flows through Industry (MFI) tool is a supply chain modeling tool developed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) with funding from the Department of Energy's Advanced Manufacturing Office. MFI was created to identify and analyze opportunities to reduce the energy and carbon intensities of the U.S. industrial sector (Hanes and Carpenter 2017). In this work, we present an overview of the MFI tool's structure and capabilities, as well as the results of using MFI to analyze a novel NREL-developed process to 'upcycle' PET plastic into higher-value composite materials (Rorrer et al. 2019). This process combines recycled PET (rPET) plastic with inputs that can be derived from biomass, including muconic acid, acrylic acid, and ethylene glycol, to chemically break down the plastic back to its monomers in a process called glycolization. Then, repolymerization and the application of fiberglass yields the valuable glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) composite, a performance material used in the manufacture of wind turbine blades, boat hulls, and other applications. This rPET-derived GFRP was found to have superior strength and fiberglass adhesion compared to conventional GFRP formulations. Our findings indicate that this GFRP production process, were it to be widely commercialized beyond its current lab-scale, could potentially reduce the fossil energy intensity of the GFRP supply chain by between 37% and 58% compared to the conventional method of GFRP manufacture from fossil-derived inputs. We also estimate potential supply chain greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions between 30% and 40% from this process. Scaling these GHG offset estimates up to annual GFRP production in the U.S. would be roughly equivalent to removing between 150,000 and 200,000 vehicles from U.S. roads. These ranges of impact estimates represent the range of differences associated with the various economic allocation methods we have assumed for the intensity contributions from the first life of the PET plastic. Following Shen et al. (2010), we derive economic allocation factors from the current price ratios of clear- and green-colored recycled PET plastic to virgin PET resin ('waste-valuation' approach) or assume them to be zero in a more simplistic allocation ('cutoff' approach). Future work involving the MFI modeling tool will also be discussed, including preliminary results comparing the energy intensity of conventional and bio-based nylons manufacturing. Attendees will also be encouraged to conduct MFI supply chain modeling of their own by requesting a user account on the MFI web application, which is freely available to the public at the following address: https://mfitool.nrel.gov.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2020

Today's Energy Challenges, Tomorrow's Solutions: Electrons to Molecules: Building a New Foundation for Industrial Processes

The vast majority of global goods and materials we use on a daily basis are manufactured from fossil fuel precursors - chemical building blocks strung together using combinations of heat, pressure, and chemical catalysis. NREL, along with energy industry partners, is exploring the use of renewable, affordable electricity as the driving force for the conversion of low-energy molecules - such as water and carbon dioxide (CO2) - to generate other molecules that could be used as chemicals, materials, fuels, or energy storage.Through this research, NREL and its partners are working together to determine the most efficient and cost-effective solutions for energy storage as well as safer ways to create chemicals and plastics that do not rely solely on fossil fuels.

affordable electricity↗

DOE OSTI2020

Establishing Regulatory Jurisdictional Boundaries at Collocated Advanced-Reactor Facilities

This white paper discusses establishing and applying nuclear facility jurisdictional boundaries at advanced-nuclear-reactor facilities. It was written for industry review and evaluation with possible consideration by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for subsequent regulatory action. The paper proposes a regulatory basis for establishing jurisdictional boundaries at operational advanced (i.e., non-light water) reactor installations at sites proximate to and sharing systems with non-NRC regulated facilities (e.g., users of process heat, fossil-plant retrofits, microgrid electrical power, desalination, etc.). Advanced-reactor technologies can be applied to support many industrial applications to replace the burning of fossil fuels as well as produce steam for electricity. The principal application of the current light-water reactor fleet is electricity generation. These varied industrial applications may involve an advanced-reactor design in combination with different site-specific energy-conversion systems. Some of these process-heat applications will require process-heat delivery systems to lie partially outside the advanced-reactor operator’s facility. Energy conversion systems are conventional, non-nuclear equipment and buildings. Given these varied applications, there should be a clear understanding between the advanced-reactor applicant and the NRC regarding a nominal demarcation between those systems that reside within the nuclear facility under the regulatory jurisdiction of the NRC (i.e., within the scope of a 10 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 50 operating license or Part 52 design certification and a combined license) and those that fall outside the scope of the NRC (e.g., an industrial facility). Additionally, it is important to have a clear understanding regarding the plant scope that should be addressed in an advanced-reactor facility Part 52, design certification application and the part of the plant scope that could be addressed as part of a site specific combined license application.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

DOE OSTI2021

Renewable Thermal Hybridization Framework for Industrial Process Heat Applications

Renewable thermal energy systems (RTES) could be hybridized with different renewable options (e.g., flat plate collectors (FPCs) with parabolic collectors), or combined with existing heat supplies (e.g., fossil fuels), to give options for targeted solar IPH applications, industrial decarbonization and the reduction of fuel consumption. Buildings and industrial thermal energy applications require different temperature ranges, quantities, and rates of thermal energy, and as such require flexible, cost competitive solutions, able to provide heat over various temperature ranges. Hybrid solutions and thermal energy storage (TES) will be important for the dispatch of heat at optimal times needed by the demand side of the buildings and industrial applications. A variety of tools and platforms, such as the System Advisor Model (SAM), can provide hourly thermal yield simulations from single renewable energy (RE) technology options, including FPCs or CSP for solar IPH. We have investigated a variety of approaches to hybrid system modeling for RTES at different temperatures or combinations of technologies and developed an initial framework. The hybridization framework starts by creating a heat stream and raising the temperature of that heat stream by various combinations of RE technologies and other sources such as fossil fuels, new fuels or electric heating in multiple stages, with options for TES and/or waste heat recovery (WHR).

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2021

Economic Analysis of a Novel Thermal Energy Storage System Using Solid Particles for Grid Electricity Storage: Preprint

As renewable power generation becomes the mainstream new-built energy source, energy storage will become an indispensable need to complement the uncertainty of renewable resources to firm the power supply. When phasing out fossil-fuel power plants to meet the carbon neutral utility target in the midcentury around the world, large capacity of energy storage will be needed to provide reliable grid power. The integration of renewable power and storage to support future carbon-free utility has several significant and positive impacts including expanding the renewable generation into the grid, improving the peak-load response, and balancing the electricity supply and demand. Long-duration energy storage (10–100 hours duration) can potentially complement the reduction of fossil-fuel baseload generation that otherwise would risk grid security when a large portion of grid power comes from variable renewable sources. Current energy storage methods based on pumped storage hydropower or batteries have many limitations. Thermal energy storage (TES) has unique advantages in scale and siting flexibility to provide grid-scale storage capacity. A particle-based TES system has promising cost and performance for the future growing energy storage needs. This paper introduces the system and components required for the particle TES to be technically and economically competitive. A technoeconomic analysis based on preliminary component designs and performance shows that the particle TES integrated with an efficient air-Brayton combined cycle power system can provide power for several days by low-cost, high-performance storage cycles. It addresses grid storage needs by enabling large-scale grid integration of intermittent renewables like wind and solar, thereby increasing their grid value. The design specifications and cost estimations of major components in a commercial scale system are presented in this paper. The cost model provides insights for further development and cost comparison with competing technologies.

27 ARPA - Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy↗

DOE OSTI2021

A Comparative Techno-Economic Analysis of Sustainable Methanol Synthesis Pathways from Biomass and CO2

The call to reduce global CO2 emissions is at the forefront of research and development in the transportation and petrochemical industries. A potential solution which intersects both sectors is the adoption and commercialization of more sustainable technologies for methanol production. Currently, methanol is gaining popularity as a possible fuel additive, and as a polymer precursor via established methanol-to-olefins routes which are increasing in capacity and utilization, putting methanol in the spotlight and global methanol production on the rise. At the same time, experimental and computational studies have surged, illuminating a wide array of novel process designs to introduce sustainable methanol into the market. However, with numerous competing pathways identified across a variety of fossil and non-fossil feedstocks, there is a need to harmonize the analyses of these pathways using a consistent techno-economic approach and compare them to current commercial pathways to better understand the benefits or limitations inherent to each technology. In this work we conduct a consistent comparative analysis of three sustainable methanol synthesis pathways versus a commercial baseline, with biomass, CO2, and natural gas as the carbon sources. The three sustainable pathways of interest are biomass gasification to syngas with subsequent catalytic conversion of syngas to methanol, indirect conversion of CO2 to syngas via electrolysis with subsequent catalytic conversion of syngas to methanol, and direct conversion of CO2 to methanol via electrolysis. To elucidate the challenges and opportunities in the path to commercialization of each sustainable pathway, we investigate five key process metrics: production cost, carbon efficiency, carbon intensity, energy efficiency, and technology readiness level (TRL).

biomass↗