(731c) Critical Technoeconomic Appraisal of Product-Specific Sequential and Integrated CO2 Capture and Electrochemical Utilization

The swift advancement of low-temperature electrochemical CO₂ reduction (eCO2R) technologies offers a promising avenue for harnessing anthropogenic CO₂ to produce value-added renewable chemicals and fuels. The current economic value proposition of eCO2R for production of C1 and C2 hydrocarbon and oxygenate type products typically entails technoeconomic analyses (TEA) on conventional sequential carbon capture routes followed by the rapidly evolving eCO2R step. However, these models are seemingly coupled with impractical separation and purification steps, which skews the economic viability of certain eCO2R processes. Further, with the advent clearer catalyst and electrolyte based fundamental insights, integrated reactive capture technologies with amine, hydroxide, or carbonate as capture medium and electrolyte holistically offer a more cost-competitive pathway towards realizing eCO2R processes. To that end, sequential-eCO2R, reactive capture with amine, reactive capture with hydroxide, and sorption enhanced-eCO2R process systems are examined in this work. TEA on the aforementioned four process systems is undertaken on several key high market size chemical classes including carbon monoxide, carboxylic acids and their salts, alcohols, and hydrocarbons (i.e., ethylene) based on contemporary literature for each system-product vector. Parametric variations in terms of required voltage biases, current density, faradaic efficiency of products and byproducts, single-pass conversion efficiency, carbonate formation ratio, levelized cost of electricity, and electrolyzer cost are considered in sensitivity analyses under the conventional scenario where a single target product is purified and sold, and in the case where byproducts are also separated and purified to commercial levels prior to being factored as revenue streams in net present value (NPV) models. Therefore, cost breakdowns, sensitivity analysis, and NPV models are performed on each system-product vector to identify key bottlenecks and offer targeted performance perspectives for future development of integrated capture-eCO2R systems. This work provides insight into future research tailored towards integrated carbon capture and reduction.