October 4, 2021

Study shows possible options for CO₂-based industrial processes in North Rhine-Westphalia

Possible options for CO₂-based industrial processes
The CCU-Akzelerator project explored the question of which production processes in NRW could use carbon dioxide instead of fossil sources as a carbon source in the future.
Credit:

Pixabay

  • A year-long study is looking into the question of what industrial opportunities exist for CO2 utilization in NRW.
  • Particular attention was paid to the Rhenish lignite mining area.
  • The areas of chemicals, fuels and proteins/biomass were examined.
  • Above all, the production of formic and acetic acid as well as kerosene appear to be promising in the context of CO2-based industrial processes.
  • The study results can be downloaded from the link below.

In cooperation with Uniper SE, the DLR Institute of Future Fuels has conducted a year-long study to determine which options exist for CO2 utilization in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). Particular attention was paid to the region Rhenish lignite mining area, which is still strongly characterized by opencast lignite mining and which is facing specific challenges from structural change. The Rhenish lignite mining area comprises the area between the major cities of Düsseldorf, Bonn and Aachen.

Based on a site analysis, the authors of the study investigated which industrial products are particularly suitable for using carbon dioxide (CO2) instead of fossil carbon as a carbon source in production processes, so-called "carbon capture and utilization" (CCU).

Technical, ecological, economic and infrastructure-relevant aspects

When the CO2 is extracted from industrial exhaust or the atmosphere, it enables the transition to a carbon cycle that avoids the need to exploit new fossil carbon sources. The study divided the processes into chemicals, fuels and proteins/biomass. A detailed set of criteria was used to evaluate and rank the processes. In doing so, the authors considered technical, ecological, economic, but also infrastructure-relevant aspects in order to obtain as comprehensive a picture as possible of the CCU options. Using a selected chemical park as an example, they compared the economic viability of the best candidates. Different plant sizes as well as varying costs for production and raw materials were considered for the analysis of an exemplary site.

First promising CO2-based processes

Current regulatory frameworks provide little to no support for economic CO2-based production of chemicals or fuels. However, the analysis shows that especially the production of formic acid and acetic acid are promising CCU alternatives and appear feasible in NRW. In the area of fuels, the CO2-based production of kerosene scored best. However, this first requires an expansion of renewable energies for green hydrogen production or hydrogen infrastructure.

The CCU-Akzelerator project was partially funded by the state of NRW, approved by Projektträger Jülich, in the framework of IN4climate.NRW.

The results of the study are available to the public as a report and can be downloaded under the following link:

CO₂ Utilization in North Rhine-Westphalia (2021)

3.2 MB | PDF

A feasibility study to accelerate implementation

Contact

Dr. rer. nat. Martin Roeb

Head of Department
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Institute of Future Fuels
Solar chemical process development
Linder Höher, 51147 Köln-Porz
Germany

Elke Reuschenbach

Head of Communications
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Institute of Future Fuels
Linder Höhe, 51147 Köln-Porz
Germany
Tel: +49 (0) 2203 601-4153