(353c) Modeling of an Integrated Fischer-Tropsch Process with Energy Supplied By a Nuclear Power Plant

The Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process is mature process developed as an alternative means to produce liquid hydrocarbon fuels when petroleum crude oil is short of supply. FT fuels can be low-carbon fuels if synthesized from carbon dioxide (CO₂) and green hydrogen as feedstocks. The green hydrogen can be produced via electrolysis of water using low-carbon or zero-carbon electricity, while the CO₂ can be captured from various waste streams (e.g., from industrial facilities or fossil power generators).

Our work [1] modeled the synfuel production process (using Aspen Plus) to produce low carbon FT diesel, jet, and naphtha, evaluated the process economics, and analyzed its environmental impact. Our study considered nuclear energy as the electricity source due to its ability to provide continuous supply of electricity with near-zero carbon emissions and its ability to produce hydrogen with high efficiency via high temperature electrolysis, providing both electricity and steam. Our work assumed CO₂ is collected from industrial plants waste streams with high purity CO₂, which is subsequently transported to the FT plant by pipeline [2]. The CO₂ and H₂ are converted into syngas via a reverse water gas shift (RWGS) reaction, which undergoes FT reactions to produce hydrocarbons that are separated into different fuel pools.

In addition to the process design, a life cycle assessment (LCA) and techno-economic analysis (TEA) were conducted using Argonne GREET and the H2A model to assess the environmental impact and the economic feasibility of the FT process. Our study shows the synfuel production cost is dominated by the H₂ feedstock cost.

A total of three different process scales—sourcing 100, 450, and 1000 MWe from the nuclear power plant—were modeled to assess the impact of scale on economics. The impact of using nuclear energy, and its integration with the FT production process are analyzed, particularly the impact of hydrogen price, and the key role of green hydrogen in reducing liquid FT hydrocarbons greenhouse gas emissions.

References

[1] Zang G, Sun P, Elgowainy A. The Modeling of Synfuel Production Process: ASPEN Model of FT production with electricity demand provided at LWR scale. 2021.

[2] Zang G, Sun P, Yoo E, Elgowainy A, Bafana A, Lee U, et al. Synthetic Methanol/Fischer–Tropsch Fuel Production Capacity, Cost, and Carbon Intensity Utilizing CO2 from Industrial and Power Plants in the United States. Environ Sci Technol 2021;55:7595–604. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c08674.