3D CFD Model of High Temperature H2O/CO2 Co-electrolysis
3D CFD Model of High Temperature H2O/CO2 Co-Electrolysis Grant Hawkes1, James O’Brien1, Carl Stoots1, Stephen Herring1 Joe Hartvigsen2 1 Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, Idaho, grant.hawkes@inl.gov 2 Ceramatec Inc, Salt Lake City, Utah INTRODUCTION A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model has been created to model high temperature co-electrolysis of steam and carbon dioxide in a planar solid oxide electrolyzer (SOE) using solid oxide fuel cell technology. A research program is under way at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to simultaneously address the research and scale-up issues associated with the implementation of planar solid-oxide electrolysis cell technology for syn-gas production from CO2 and steam. Various runs have been performed under different run conditions to help assess the performance of the SOE. This paper presents CFD results of this model compared with experimental results. The Idaho National Laboratory (INL), in conjunction with Ceramatec Inc. (Salt Lake City, USA) has been researching for several years the use of solid-oxide fuel cell technology to electrolyze steam for large-scale nuclear-powered hydrogen production. Now, an experimental research project is underway at the INL to produce syngas by simultaneously electrolyzing at high-temperature steam and carbon dioxide (CO2) using solid oxide fuel cell technology. A strong interest exists in the large-scale production of syn-gas from CO2 and steam to be reformed into a usable transportation fuel. If biomass is used as the carbon source, the overall process is climate neutral. Consequently, there is a high level of interest in production of syn-gas from CO2 and steam electrolysis. With the price of oil currently around $60 / barrel, synthetically-derived hydrocarbon fuels (synfuels) have become economical. Synfuels are typically produced from syngas – hydrogen (H2) and carbon monoxide (CO) -- using the Fischer-Tropsch process, discovered by Germany before World War II. High-temperature nuclear reactors have the potential for substantially increasing the efficiency of syn-gas production from CO2 and water, with no consumption of fossil fuels, and no production of greenhouse gases. Thermal CO2-splitting and water splitting for syn-gas production can be accomplished via high-temperature electrolysis, using high-temperature nuclear process heat and electricity. A high-temperature advanced nuclear reactor coupled with a high-efficiency high-temperature electrolyzer could achieve a competitive thermal-to-syn-gas conversion efficiency of 45 to 55%.
- Research Organization:
- Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC07-99ID-13727
- OSTI ID:
- 912896
- Report Number(s):
- INL/CON-07-12092; TRN: US200802%%435
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: ANS Summer Meeting,Boston ,06/24/2007,06/28/2007
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
BIOMASS
CARBON DIOXIDE
CARBON MONOXIDE
CARBON SOURCES
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
ELECTRICITY
ELECTROLYSIS
FLUID MECHANICS
FOSSIL FUELS
GREENHOUSE GASES
HYDROCARBONS
HYDROGEN PRODUCTION
PROCESS HEAT
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
SOLID OXIDE FUEL CELLS
Co-Electrolysis of Steam and Carbon Dioxide