Techno-economic analysis (TEA) of three energy carriers for the Power-to-X-to-Power (P2X2P) pathway

Semester Projects

Aim

Chemical energy storage proves suitable for long-term and grid-scale energy storage due to its high energy density, large storage capacity, and low self-discharge rate. The primary process for chemical energy storage involves renewable-driven water electrolysis. The resulting hydrogen can be stored directly after compression or indirectly by synthesizing other chemicals, such as methane, methanol, and ammonia. In previous work [1], hydrogen and ammonia were discussed in the power-to-X-to-power pathway. In this project, the energy carriers—methane, methanol, and formic acid—are considered in the pathway and compared with hydrogen and ammonia in terms of technical and economic feasibility.

Tasks

This project is based on an existing model, encompassing subsystems of solar PV, wind turbine, proton exchange membrane water electrolysis, solid oxide water electrolysis, ammonia synthesis, solid oxide fuel cell, and combined cycle. Your tasks are as follows: (1) Understand the basic concepts of the technologies involved. - Improve current models if necessary (optional). (2) Conduct process simulation of methane, methanol, and formic acid synthesis, and relevant power generation technologies (fuel cell, CCHP). - Familiar with Aspen for process simulation. - Collect technical and economic parameters for modeling. (3) Generate a TEA report. - Consider both positive and negative effects of each energy carrier. - Provide suggestions. For these tasks, you are required to have a background in energy and chemical engineering, possess characteristics of independence, seriousness, and attentiveness, and demonstrate the ability for result interpretation and report writing. If you are interested, please send your CV to du.wen@epfl.ch.

Reference

[1] Du Wen, Muhammad Aziz, Techno-economic analyses of power-to-ammonia-to-power and biomass-to-ammonia-to-power pathways for carbon neutrality scenario, Applied Energy, Volume 319, 2022, 119272, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.119272.