Carbon Capture and Sustainable Utilization by Algal Polyacrylonitrile Fiber Production: Process Design, Techno-Economic Analysis, and Climate Related Aspects

Abstract

Carbon capture and sustainable utilization (CCU) is essential to accomplishing the targets of 2015's Paris Agreement. A promising option consists of algal based CO 2 conversion into lipid rich biomass with further processing into polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fiber, the major precursor for carbon fiber production. A first feasibility analysis was carried out under multiple constraints for price, byproduct yield, and consumption of land, CO 2 , and energy. Several process-route alternatives were composed, modeled, and compared in terms of mass and energy flows, resource needs, and cost. To quantify risks from market and modeling uncertainties, we conducted a primary techno-economic analysis (TEA) with variable process pathways in a dynamic economic model of a related project company (SPV), embedded in a Monte Carlo simulation. First results indicate that process combinations with algal biodiesel-production and biomass-liquefaction (BtL) components come close to meeting the multiple constraints and justify progressing to extended research and development activities.

Aiming for life cycle sustainability assessment of cement‐based composites: A trend study for wall systems of carbon concrete: Dresden Nexus Conference 2020—Session 4—Circular economy for building with secondary construction materials to minimise resource use and land use

“…Some authors presented lignin-based PAN as more sustainable option for thermoplastics 83,84 and other alternatives, for example, based on algae or waste cotton linter, at experimental stage. 85,93 Second, we modeled only carbon fiber reinforcement while ignoring research on natural fiber materials. 94 Third, we did not separately model scenarios for green concrete 95,96 to explicitly reduce the share of cement, namely Portland clinker.…”

PtX‐Plus: Synergies Through Coupling of PtX Facilities with a Biorefinery

“…50 % of the hydrogen produced in the electrolyzer is directly converted into methanol first and subsequently into propylene, acrylonitrile, PAN fiber and finally carbon fiber. The path for this was already presented as process route 5 (Fischer‐Tropsch process → methanol synthesis → methanol to propylene process (MtP) → Sohio acrylonitrile production process → PAN precursor production → carbon fiber production) in the techno‐economic analysis (TEA) published in 2018.…”

“…However, the yeast oil may also be processed into biodiesel and glycerin by means of a biodiesel process. The latter is converted into methanol using a glycerol‐to‐methanol (GtM) process and subsequently into propylene and acrylonitrile, while the purified biodiesel complements the material flow balance towards sustainable CO 2 ‐based fuels .…”

“…To answer these questions, researchers of the Technical University of Munich, together with colleagues from Bauhaus University Weimar and the industry, have developed an enhanced PtX plant concept (PtX‐Plus, see Fig. ) based on longtime developments for climate‐friendly production of basic chemicals and raw materials from biomass (carbon fibers, polymers, additives generated from algae and yeasts, among others , ).…”

“…The basis for this were the development, feasibility and profitability studies of biochemical process chains for production of carbon fibers from algae and/or directly from CO 2 , . As early as 2018, these efforts were mentioned and acknowledged as an industrial option for creating a globally relevant carbon sink in the IPCC‐SR1.5 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , considering both the permanent and therefore sustainable immobilization of CO 2 in a solid (carbon fiber) and the combination of carbon fiber with hard rock to a new carbon fiber/stone composite material (CFS) for the purpose of substituting major CO 2 sources: steel, aluminum and armored concrete.…”