Abstract
Valorization of carbon dioxide towards value added chemicals can drastically mitigate the increased CO2 levels in the atmosphere. In this context, formic acid is a versatile bulk chemical with promising market potential. The novel process design proposed in this work involves a sustainable thermochemical synthesis of formic acid from CO2, which is rigorously simulated using Aspen Plus V12 as a CAPE tool. The process relies on the reverse water-gas shift reaction (RWGS) to synthesize CO from green H2 and CO2. The purified CO is used for the synthesis of methyl formate, which is then hydrolyzed to produce formic acid. To address downstream processing energy intensity, a distillation column with a dividing wall (DWC) is employed. The designed process achieves high molar yields of 95% for CO2 and 96% for H2 with a specific energy intensity of 21.8 MJ/kg of formic acid. The new process achieves a substantial reduction of 51% in the CO2 emissions, 64% in electricity consumption and 20% in steam usage as compared to conventional fossil fuel-based FA production plants (reference case).
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Proceedings of the 34th European Symposium on Computer Aided Process Engineering |
Subtitle of host publication | 15th International Symposium on Process Systems Engineering (ESCAPE34/PSE24) |
Editors | Flavio Manenti, Gintaras V. Reklaitis |
Place of Publication | Amsterdam/Kidlington/Cambridge, MA |
Publisher | Elsevier |
Pages | 2659-2664 |
Number of pages | 6 |
ISBN (Print) | 978-0-443-33897-7, 978-0-443-28824-1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2024 |
Event | 34th European Symposium on Computer-Aided Process Engineering / 15th International Symposium on Process Systems Engineering - Palazzo dei Congressi - Villa Vittoria, Florence, Italy Duration: 2 Jun 2024 → 6 Jun 2024 https://www.aidic.it/escape34-pse24 |
Publication series
Name | Computer Aided Chemical Engineering |
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Publisher | Elsevier |
Volume | 53 |
ISSN (Print) | 1570-7946 |
Conference
Conference | 34th European Symposium on Computer-Aided Process Engineering / 15th International Symposium on Process Systems Engineering |
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Abbreviated title | ESCAPE34 - PSE24 |
Country/Territory | Italy |
City | Florence |
Period | 2/06/24 → 6/06/24 |
Internet address |
Bibliographical note
Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-careOtherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.
Keywords
- carbon dioxide
- formic acid
- process design
- process intensification