Techno-economic assessment of electro-synthetic fuel based on solid oxide electrolysis cell coupled with Fischer–Tropsch strategy

作者：Yunyi Zhang, Ang Li, Yuxuan Fei, Chen Zhang, Lei Zhu, Zhen Huang · 发表于：Journal of CO2 Utilization · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1016/j.jcou.2024.102905 · 被引用次数：12 · 研究领域：Advancements in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells、Chemical Looping and Thermochemical Processes、Molten salt chemistry and electrochemical processes

Electro-synthetic fuel is proposed as an approach to achieve net-zero carbon emissions for heavy-duty internal combustion engines and meet carbon neutrality targets. This method is based on high temperature co-electrolysis using a solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) coupled with Fisher-Tropsch (FT) synthesis due to its high efficiency and carbon recycling capacity. To access the techno-economic viability of this pathway and identify the key elements impacting the cost of electro-synthetic fuels, a comprehensive techno-economic model is constructed. This model aims to offer cost cutting guidance and includes SOEC, FT, and techno-economic sub-models, with SOEC and FT validated using literature data. The cost breakdown and sensitivity analysis indicate that heating costs, electricity prices, and stack lifetime are critical factors in reducing the cost of electro-synthetic fuel. Three alternative system layouts that fully utilize thermal and chemical energy are proposed to address the significant heating expense issue. Among these, the optimal system design lowers costs by approximately 5.3 %. Furthermore, this work introduces the contradiction between high performance, high stability, and low-cost accounting for the SOEC lifetime, which is bounded by operating current density. When considering the degradation and replacement of SOEC stacks, the long-term profitability of operating SOEC at a current density of 500 mA/cm 2 is superior to that of 850 mA/cm 2 . Despite the most eff...