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Now, writing in the journal Joule, Ung Lee and colleagues report a study of a pilot plant for hydrogenating carbon dioxide to produce formic acid (K. Kim et al., Joule https://doi.org/10.1016/j. Joule.2024.01 ). 003;2024). This study demonstrates the optimization of several key elements of the manufacturing process. At the reactor level, consideration of key catalyst properties such as catalytic efficiency, morphology, water solubility, thermal stability, and large-scale resource availability can help improve reactor performance while keeping required feedstock quantities low. Here, the authors used a ruthenium (Ru) catalyst supported on a mixed covalent triazine bipyridyl-terephthalonitrile framework (termed Ru/bpyTNCTF). They optimized the selection of suitable amine pairs for efficient CO2 capture and conversion, selecting N-methylpyrrolidine (NMPI) as the reactive amine to capture CO2 and promote the hydrogenation reaction to form formate, and N-butyl-N-imidazole (NBIM) to serve as the reactive amine. Having isolated the amine, the formate can be isolated for further production of FA through the formation of a trans-adduct. In addition, they improved the reactor operating conditions in terms of temperature, pressure and H2/CO2 ratio to maximize CO2 conversion. In terms of process design, they developed a device consisting of a trickling bed reactor and three continuous distillation columns. The residual bicarbonate is distilled off in the first column; NBIM is prepared by forming a trans adduct in the second column; the FA product is obtained in the third column; The choice of material for the reactor and tower was also carefully considered, with stainless steel (SUS316L) selected for most components, and a commercial zirconium-based material (Zr702) selected for the third tower to reduce corrosion of the reactor due to its resistance to fuel assembly corrosion. , and the cost is relatively low.
After carefully optimizing the production process—selecting the ideal feedstock, designing a trickling bed reactor and three continuous distillation columns, carefully selecting materials for the column body and internal packing to reduce corrosion, and fine-tuning the operating conditions of the reactor—the authors demonstrate a pilot plant with a daily capacity of 10 has been built kg of fuel assembly capable of maintaining stable operation for more than 100 hours. Through careful feasibility and life cycle analysis, the pilot plant reduced costs by 37% and global warming potential by 42% compared to traditional fuel assembly production processes. In addition, the overall efficiency of the process reaches 21%, and its energy efficiency is comparable to that of fuel cell vehicles powered by hydrogen.
Qiao, M. Pilot production of formic acid from hydrogenated carbon dioxide. Nature Chemical Engineering 1, 205 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44286-024-00044-2