Comprehensive Process and Environmental Impact Analysis of Integrated DBD Plasma Based Fuel Synthesis

Electrification of the existing industrial chemical production processes is the key in progressing towards reducing carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions and production of near-carbon free fuels. In particular, replacing energy from the burning of carbon-based fuels with that supplied by green, renewable electricity sources is viewed as an emerging chemical engineering concept towards green fuel production. This electrical energy can be utilized in electrochemical or plasma (or combined) processes for chemical transformations, routinely at temperatures much lower than conventional reactions. Plasma technology, in particular, provides unprecedented opportunities in process versatility as well as low investment and even operating costs since plasma reactors can be utilized as drop-in technology due to their structure – tubular or parallel plate configurations – and linear scalability of the production capacity. However, with very few exceptions, integration of green plasma related fuel generation processes into existing large scale processes has been lacking. The work presented will focus on rigorous process design calculations combined with life cycle analysis to integrate cold dielectric discharge barrier (DBD) plasma reactors into the existing upstream and downstream chemical processes. Many pitfalls, including those based on the plasma reactors intrinsically operating at low pressures while for fuel production and separation high pressures necessary, will be highlighted and discussed. In particular, the presented work will focus on two key hydrogen carrier molecules, e.g. H2 and NH3, synthesis and integration into the large scale industrial processes using DBD plasma from low quality biomethane. These will be described and compared against the conventional steam methane reforming (SMR), dry methane reforming (DMR) and NH3 synthesis processes. The calculated environmental impacts from life cycle analysis based on green WECC U.S. grid electricity produced in wind 1-3 MW onshore turbines will be considered.