Techno-Economic Metrics Of Carbon Utilization - Part 1

Technological and economical parameters of carbon utilization and how these parameters vary widely depending on external and technology-specific variables

Joris Mertens, Mark Krawec and Ritik Attwal
KBC (a Yokogawa company)

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) is often confused with carbon storage (CS) rather than carbon utilization (CU). This misunderstanding is logical since, ultimately, CS is a form of waste disposal while CU refers to the new circular world that emphasizes more efficient use of resources. With CU being in general more expensive than CS, some CU technologies need further development, which explains the current focus on storage.

Currently, Yokogawa, a leading provider of industrial automation and test and measurement solutions, is performing a strategic decarbonization study of the Goi industrial area in the Chiba Prefecture at Tokyo Bay (Yokogawa, 2021). The purpose of this research is to make the industrial area net carbon neutral by 2050, preferably using CU rather than CS.

Carbon utilisation technologies

KBC performed a techno-economic evaluation of the nine CU technologies listed in Table 1. Table 1 also includes the feeds, other than CO₂, and the operating temperature of the CU paths. For most of the feed and product pricing, KBC relied on third-party market intelligence from Argus Media.

The Fischer-Tropsch (FT) and Oxo synthesis configurations considered in the referenced articles consume CO rather than CO₂. Therefore, a reverse water gas shift (RWGS) step is included upstream to convert the CO2 into CO. The RWGS step includes CO₂ capture to recycle the unconverted CO₂.

The methanation process considered uses CO₂, not syngas (CO). However, due to low CO₂ conversion per reactor pass, a CO₂ capture/ recycle step is required, too.

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