2025 AIChE Annual Meeting

(327b) An Integrated Techno-Economic and Environmental Analysis Framework for the Design of Emerging Electrified Chemical, Energy Conversion, and Storage Systems

Authors

Yao Shan, Purdue University
Shuya Wei, University of New Mexico
Qi Dong, University of Maryland College Park
Wenyuan Li, West Virginia University
David S. Mebane, National Energy Technology Laboratory
Fernando Lima, West Virginia University
The urgency of the climate crisis has driven significant efforts to develop technologies that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Among the most promising opportunities is the advancement of sustainable and economically viable chemical processes, particularly given that the chemical industry is one of the largest energy consumers and the third-largest source of GHG emissions [1,2]. Potential solutions include the implementation of electrified chemical, energy conversion, and storage systems. However, there remains a need for integrated techno-economic and environmental analysis tools [3], especially for addressing the unique characteristics of electro-decarbonization technologies, along with the uncertainty inherent in their design and operations [4]. Based on that, this work presents a systematic and integrated techno-economic and environmental analysis framework to assess emerging process designs for electrified chemical, energy conversion, and storage systems. This framework can then be used for subsequent process optimization to facilitate the deployment of a net-zero carbon economy.

The proposed framework enhances conventional cost estimation methods to evaluate capital and operating expenses for deploying emerging electrified technologies on a large-scale basis [5]. This is achieved by leveraging data on costs, capacities, and operating conditions from bench- and pilot-scale studies, combined with economies of scale concepts. Such early-stage data is particularly crucial for novel technologies, as commercial-scale information is typically unavailable. Capital and operating cost estimates are further analyzed using key profitability metrics, such as levelized costs (LC), and benchmarked against conventional processes to assess the feasibility and identify trade-offs in adopting emerging process designs. Sensitivity analysis and uncertainty propagation are also explored to evaluate the impact of key variables on profitability and breakeven prices. Additionally, economy of learning concepts can be incorporated into the analysis to determine desirable experience curve behaviors [6].

Four different emerging electrified technologies are considered for application of the TEA framework: (1) Low-temperature electrochemical CO2 reduction process to produce C1 and C2 chemicals [7]; (2) Hydrogen production via solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOEC) [8]; (3) CO2 hydrogenation to methanol via plasma-assisted catalytic joule-heating [9]; and (4) Energy storage using CO2 as an active cathode material for Aluminum-CO2 batteries [10,11]. The results obtained for these case studies include cost-effectiveness trends and trade-off analyses when compared to their traditional manufacturing counterparts. The developed TEA approach in this work can accelerate the deployment and optimization of new electrified chemical process designs.

REFERENCES

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