We have documented for you now in numerous reports, as most recently in:
West Virginia Coal Association | CO2-to-Methanol Supported by World's Largest Methanol Supplier | Research & Development; concerning the news release: "'Methanex and Carbon Recycling International Sign Landmark Investment Agreement for Advanced Renewable Fuel Production'; July 30, 2013; REYKJAVIK, ICELAND - Methanex Corporation ... announced today an initial $5 million investment in Carbon Recycling International (CRI), a privately held company with headquarters in Reykjavik, Iceland. Methanex will also evaluate further investments to support CRI's growth. CRI operates the world's first renewable methanol plant in Iceland which utilizes its emissions-to- liquids (ETL) technology, converting renewable energy and recycled CO2 emissions to renewable methanol";
the technical and commercial successes being realized by the Icelandic-American company, Carbon Recycling International, "CRI", in their Carbon Dioxide recycling industrial enterprise, wherein, using processes founded on technology established by the University of Southern California's Nobel Prize-winning chemist, George Olah, and his colleagues, like that seen in our recent report of: West Virginia Coal Association | California July 2012 Efficient CO2 to Methanol | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent 8,212,088 - Efficient and Selective Chemical Recycling of Carbon Dioxide to Methanol, Dimethyl Ether and Derived Products; Date: July 3, 2012; Inventors: George Olah and G.K. Surya Prakash, CA; Assignee: University of Southern California; Abstract: An efficient and environmentally beneficial method of recycling and producing methanol from varied sources of carbon dioxide including flue gases of fossil fuel burning powerplants, industrial exhaust gases or the atmosphere itself. Converting carbon dioxide by chemical or electrochemical reduction secondary treatment to produce essentially methanol, dimethyl ether and derived products";
they are, on an industrial basis, converting the Carbon Dioxide extracted from the off-gases of a power generation process, albeit one utilizing geothermal energy, into the fuel alcohol, Methanol.
Although, as we've explained many times, Methanol is an immensely valuable product which can be further converted, via for one example ExxonMobil's MTG(r), Methanol-to-Gasoline, process, into that stuff we're seemingly too willing to send our young people overseas to fight and die for in OPEC desert wars, and, into various sorts of plastics, wherein the CO2 consumed in the synthesis of the Methanol would remain forever, and productively, "sequestered", it is also possible, as seen in our report of:
West Virginia Coal Association | August 2011, CO2-to-Gasoline US Patent Awarded | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent 7,989,507 - Production of Fuel Materials Utilizing Waste Carbon Dioxide; 2011; Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft, Germany; Abstract: The present invention is directed to a method for utilizing CO2 waste comprising recovering carbon dioxide from an industrial process that produces a waste stream comprising carbon dioxide (and) further includes producing hydrogen using a renewable energy resource and producing a hydrocarbon material utilizing the produced hydrogen and the recovered carbon dioxide. (And) wherein the producing hydrogen is done by electrolysis of water using electricity generated from the renewable energy resource, and wherein the renewable energy resource comprises wind or solar energy. The process ... further comprising using electricity produced from the renewable energy resource to reduce an amount of carbon dioxide to a first amount of carbon monoxide and oxygen. The ... present invention (is) a novel method and system for utilizing waste carbon dioxide for the production of useful fuel materials. In one aspect of the present invention, the present invention provides a novel, efficient, and economical method and system for producing useful fuel materials, i.e. methane, methanol, carbon monoxide, syngas, gasoline products, and/or other fuel materials, from carbon dioxide recovered from carbon dioxide-containing waste streams via hydrogen produced by renewable energy resources";
to convert industrial waste gas Carbon Dioxide directly into a range of other useful products, including Gasoline. And, as we reported back in January of this year, via:
West Virginia Coal Association | Iceland, August 2012, CO2 to Gasoline and Diesel | Research & Development; concerning; "United States Patent Application 20120201717 - Process and System for Producing Liquid Fuel from CO2 and Water; 2012; Shwetank Singh, et. al., Iceland; Assignee: CRI, Iceland; Abstract: A process and system for producing high octane fuel from carbon dioxide and water is disclosed. The feedstock for the production line is industrial carbon dioxide and water, which may be of lower quality. The end product can be high octane gasoline, high cetane diesel or other liquid hydrocarbon mixtures suitable for driving conventional combustion engines or hydrocarbons suitable for further industrial processing or commercial use";the CO2-recycling industrialists in Iceland have, as well, developed the technology for converting Carbon Dioxide, along with Hydrogen derived from H2O, directly into Gasoline, and into high-quality Diesel fuel.
Herein, we learn that technical experts in the employ of our United States Government, just one week ago, confirmed the assertions of "United States Patent Application 20120201717 - Process and System for Producing Liquid Fuel from CO2 and Water", i.e., that high-quality Gasoline and Diesel fuels can, as a practical matter, be synthesized from Carbon Dioxide and H2O, through, as excerpted from the initial link in this dispatch, their award of:
"US Patent 8,506,910 - Process and System for Producing Liquid Fuel from Carbon Dioxide and Water
Process and system for producing liquid fuel from carbon dioxide and water - CRI EHF
August 13, 2013
Inventors: Shwetank Singh, et. al., Iceland
Assignee: CRI Ehf, Iceland
Abstract: A process and system for producing high octane fuel from carbon dioxide and water is disclosed. The feedstock for the production line is industrial carbon dioxide and water, which may be of lower quality. The end product can be high octane gasoline, high cetane diesel or other liquid hydrocarbon mixtures suitable for driving conventional combustion engines or hydrocarbons suitable for further industrial processing or commercial use. Products, such as dimethyl ether or methanol may also be withdrawn from the production line. The process is nearly emission free and reprocesses all hydrocarbons not suitable for liquid fuel to form high octane products. The heat generated by exothermic reactions in the process is fully utilized as is the heat produced in the reprocessing of hydrocarbons not suitable for liquid fuel.Claims: A system for production of liquid fuel from carbon dioxide and water using electricity, the system comprising:
(a) a purification unit in fluid communication with stack gas units of industrial plants and/or power plants, said purification unit arranged and designed to separate the carbon dioxide from stack gases;
(b) an electrolysis unit arranged to convert water into hydrogen and oxygen;
(Such "electrolysis" technologies, as above, for the conversion of "water into hydrogen and oxygen" continue to be improved, as seen in our report of:
West Virginia Coal Association | USDOE Efficient Hydrogen for Liquid Fuel Synthesis | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent Application 20120149789 - Apparatus and Methods for the Electrolysis of Water; 2012; Assignee: UT-Battelle, LLC; Oak Ridge, TN; Abstract: An apparatus for the electrolytic splitting of water into hydrogen and/or oxygen (and) processes using the ... electrolytic apparatus or functional mimics thereof are also described. This invention was made with government support under Contract Number DE-AC05-000R22725 between the United States Department of Energy and UT-Battelle, LLC. The U.S. government has certain rights in this invention".
There are, as we have also documented, and as we will re-emphasize in some reports to follow, other options as well for the generation of Hydrogen from Water, some using freely-available types of environmental energy to drive the processes.)
(c) a first mixing unit disposed downstream of and in fluid communication with said purification unit and said electrolysis unit to mix said carbon dioxide and said hydrogen;
(d) a catalytic reactor disposed downstream of and in fluid communication with the said first mixing unit to receive the mixture of said carbon dioxide and said hydrogen and to produce methanol and carbon monoxide and said water;
(The "methanol and carbon monoxide" are being generated from the Carbon Dioxide and the Hydrogen via reactions like those described in:
West Virginia Coal Association | USDOE CO2 + Hydrogen = Methanol and Ethanol | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent 7,858,667 - Alcohol Synthesis from CO or CO2; 2010;
Assignee: Battelle Memorial Institute, WA; (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; USDOE); Abstract: Methods for producing alcohols from CO or CO2 and H2 utilizing a palladium-zinc (Pd--Zn) on alumina catalyst are described. Methods of synthesizing alcohols over various catalysts in microchannels are also described. A portion of this work was funded by the U.S. DOE ... under Contract DE-AC06-76RL01830. Claims: A method of synthesizing alcohols from CO or CO2 comprising: flowing a reactant gas mixture comprising H2 and CO or CO2 into contact with a catalyst; wherein the catalyst comprises a Pd--Zn alloy dispersed on alumina; and forming an alcohol or alcohols"; and:
West Virginia Coal Association | France Efficient CO2 to Carbon Monoxide Conversion | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent Application 20030113244 - Method for Producing Carbon Monoxide by Reverse Conversion with an Adapted Catalyst; 2003; Assignee: Air Liquide; Abstract: The invention concerns a method for producing carbon monoxide by reverse conversion, in gas phase, of carbonic acid gas and gaseous hydrogen while minimizing the production of methane";
which are proceeding concurrently in this reactor/reaction process.)
(e) a second mixing unit disposed downstream of and in fluid communication with the said catalytic reactor, said second mixing unit arranged and designed to accept a portion of said carbon monoxide;
(f) a liquid fuel generation unit disposed downstream of and in fluid communication with said second mixing unit, said liquid fuel generation unit arranged and designed to receive and convert a portion of said carbon monoxide in the presence of a substantially pure hydrogen gas to produce said liquid fuel;
(Which "liquid fuel generation unit" that produces "said liquid fuel" from "carbon monoxide" and "hydrogen gas", would likely be a modern variant of the long-known "Fischer-Tropsch" hydrocarbon synthesis, like that seen in our report of:
West Virginia Coal Association | Conoco Hydrogenates More Carbon Monoxide | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent 6,730, 708 - Fischer-Tropsch Processes and Catalysts Using Aluminum Borate; 2004; Assignee: ConocoPhillips Company, TX; Abstract: A process is disclosed for the hydrogenation of carbon monoxide. The process involves contacting a feed stream comprising hydrogen and carbon monoxide with a catalyst system in a reaction zone maintained at conversion-promoting conditions effective to produce an effluent stream, preferably comprising hydrocarbons. In accordance with this invention the catalyst system used in the process includes at least one catalytic material for Fischer-Tropsch reactions (e.g., iron, cobalt, nickel and/or ruthenium), preferably comprising cobalt, and a support comprising aluminum borate. A process for the production of hydrocarbons, comprising: contacting a feed stream comprising hydrogen and carbon monoxide with a cobalt-containing catalyst system".)
(g) an oxidation unit disposed downstream of and in fluid communication with said liquid fuel generation unit, said oxidation unit arranged and designed to oxidize any unaccepted portion of separated hydrocarbon product under conditions producing a combustion product comprising said hydrogen, said carbon monoxide, said carbon dioxide and said water.
(As in the above sub-claim, some relatively small amount of CO2 can be co-produced at certain stages in the process. That byproduct CO2 is simply recovered and mixed into the main feed stream of "industrial carbon dioxide".)
The system ... wherein said catalytic reactor further comprises a reverse water gas shift reactor for the formation of said carbon monoxide.
(As in our above citation of our report concerning: "United States Patent Application 20030113244 - Method for Producing Carbon Monoxide by Reverse Conversion with an Adapted Catalyst".)
The system ... wherein said second mixing unit directly supplies a mixture of said carbon dioxide and said hydrogen to said liquid fuel generation unit for the production of said liquid fuel (and) wherein said liquid fuel generation unit further comprises of series of reactors used for the production of said liquid fuel (and) wherein said liquid fuel generation unit comprises at least one of a methanol reactor, a methanol-to-gasoline reactor, and a Fischer-Tropsch reactor.
The system ... wherein said second mixing unit further comprises at least one control valve to feed various amounts of mixture of said carbon monoxide and said hydrogen to said liquid fuel generation unit to produce desired proportions of said liquid fuel (and) wherein said second mixing unit is disposed downstream of and in fluid communication with said electrolysis unit to receive said hydrogen gas.
Background and Field: The present invention is broadly within the field of energy conversion and relates to processes and systems for producing hydrogen by electrolysis of water, processes for reacting hydrogen with carbon dioxide for producing methanol and/or producing syngas and processes for synthetic liquid fuel production.
Current evaluation of the world oil production predicts the production to peak around the year 2010. As the world production capacity is believed to behave like a bell curve the expectations are that we will have diminishing production capacity within a few decades from now. Demand on the other hand rises rapidly and it has become foreseeable that in fairly short time, gasoline production will not meet demand.
It is therefore very important to develop processes that allow utilization of alternative energy sources to provide fuel that can immediately substitute the currently used gasoline and diesel distilled from petroleum oil. Such fuel which is compatible with combustion engines as they are today will render the need for major, time consuming, technical developments and infrastructural changes unnecessary.
Currently, two processes have been used on industrial scale to produce synthetic liquid hydrocarbon fuel. One is the SASOL process which is based on classic Fisher-Tropsch chemistry and converts coal to syngas, which is converted to a variety of hydrocarbons via the Fisher-Tropsch synthesis. The other is the Mobil Methanol-to-Gasoline process.
(Regarding "SASOL", see, for only one example:
West Virginia Coal Association | US EPA Recommends Coal Liquefaction as a Clean Alternative | Research & Development; concerning: "'Clean Alternative Fuels: Fischer-Tropsch'; United States Environmental Protection Agency; March, 2002; A Success Story (!) For the past 50 years, Fischer-Tropsch fuels have powered all of South Africa’s vehicles, from buses to trucks to taxicabs. The fuel is primarily supplied by Sasol, a world leader in Fischer-Tropsch technologies. Sasol’s South African facility produces more than 150,000 barrels of high quality fuel from domestic low-grade coal daily".
And. regarding the "Mobil Methanol-to-Gasoline process", see, for only one example:
West Virginia Coal Association | ExxonMobil "Clean Gasoline from Coal" | Research & Development;
concerning the ExxonMobil marketing brochure: "Methanol to Gasoline (MTG): Production of Clean Gasoline from Coal; So Advanced, Yet So Simple".)
Syngas or synthesis gas is a term used for gases of varying composition that are generated in coal gasification ... and some types of waste-to-energy facilities. The name comes from their use in creating synthetic petroleum for use as a fuel or lubricant via Fischer-Tropsch synthesis.
The Fisher Tropsch process was developed by the German researchers Franz Fisher and Hans Tropsch in the 1920s. It is a well documented process that has been used on industrial scale for production of diesel and other synthetic petroleum products for decades. This process is used by a number of companies today to produce low-sulfur diesel and other petroleum products on large scale. For example, SASOL has implemented this process since 1955 to produce petroleum fuel.
The conversion of methanol to gasoline using the Mobil methanol to gasoline process (MTG) is a viable alternative to the Fisher-Tropsch synthesis when converting syngas to liquid fuel.
The present invention seeks to address this problem by a novel combination of several processes for conversion of electrical energy to chemical energy in the form of synthetic liquid hydrocarbon fuels that can readily replace conventional liquid fuels from natural oil reserves.
Summary: The present invention provides an integrated, nearly emission-free process for conversion of carbon dioxide and water to liquid fuel, such as high octane gasoline or diesel, suitable to drive combustion engines. The process may also be used to produce other hydrocarbons or hydrocarbon mixtures suitable for driving conventional combustion engines or hydrocarbons suitable for further industrial processing or other commercial use. Intermediate products such as methanol or dimethylether may also be generated by the production process of the invention. The overall process comprises in a preferred embodiment the conversion of water and carbon dioxide to C5+hydrocarbons (i.e., with five or more carbon atoms), preferably C5-C10 hydrocarbons. The overall process may also encompass the conversion of water and carbon dioxide to high cetane diesel or other liquid hydrocarbon mixtures suitable for driving conventional diesel combustion engines.
Accordingly, the present invention provides in one aspect a process for production of liquid fuel from carbon dioxide and water using electricity comprising: providing water and electricity and electrolyzing the water into hydrogen and oxygen, providing carbon dioxide and reacting it with the obtained hydrogen to produce methanol and/or carbon monoxide and water, where said methanol can comprise the desired final product or be reacted further to liquid hydrocarbon fuel, or, in the case of carbon monoxide intermediate production, reacting the obtained carbon monoxide with hydrogen in one or more steps to produce liquid fuel, which can be methanol or other liquid fuel such as liquid hydrocarbon fuel."
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We, in honesty, don't know how much clearer it can get.
As just recently confirmed herein by our United States Government, through their issuance of "United States Patent 8,506,910 - Process and System for Producing Liquid Fuel from Carbon Dioxide and Water", it is perfectly feasible to collect Carbon Dioxide from the "stack gas units of industrial plants and/or power plants"; to generate, using environmental energy to drive the process, Hydrogen from Water; and, then, to combine the Carbon Dioxide and the Hydrogen in a sequence of known types of catalytic reactors to generate, variously, the valuable fuel and raw material alcohol, Methanol; and, Gasoline; and, Diesel fuel.
We would have preferred to end this dispatch with some appropriately-worded epitaphs for the obituaries and tombstones of Cap-and-Trade tax schemes and the OPEC/Big Oil monopoly.