Techno-economic Analysis of Metal–Organic Frameworks for Hydrogen and Natural Gas Storage

Abstract

A techno-economic analysis was conducted for metal–organic framework (MOF) adsorbents, which are promising candidates for light-duty vehicle on-board natural gas and hydrogen storage. The goal of this analysis was to understand cost drivers for large-scale (2.5 Mkg/year) MOF synthesis and to identify potential pathways to achieving a production cost of less than $10/(kg of MOF). Four MOFs were analyzed with four different metal centers and three different linkers: Ni2(dobdc) (dobdc4– = 2,5-dioxido-1,4-benzenedicarboxylate; Ni-MOF-74), Mg2(dobdc) (dobdc4– = 2,5-dioxido-1,4-benzenedicarboxylate; Mg-MOF-74), Zn4O­(bdc)3 (bdc2– = 1,4-benzenedicarboxylate; MOF-5), and Cu3(btc)2 (btc3– = 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate; HKUST-1). Baseline costs are projected to range from $35/kg to $71/kg predicated on organic solvent (solvothermal) syntheses using an engineering scale-up of laboratory-demonstrated synthesis procedures and conditions. Two alternative processes were analyzed to evaluate the cost impact of reducing solvent usage: liquid assisted grinding (LAG) and aqueous synthesis. Cost projections from these alternative synthesis approaches range from $13/kg to $36/kg (representing 34–83% reductions), demonstrating the large impact of solvent on the baseline analysis. Finally, sensitivity studies were conducted to identify additional opportunities for achieving MOF production costs of less than $10/kg.

An assessment of strategies for the development of solid-state adsorbents for vehicular hydrogen storage

“…A techno-economic analysis was recently published for three MOFs in the M 2 (dobdc) series (M = Ni, Mg, Zn) and provides some valuable insight concerning the aspects of synthetic procedures contributing most to material cost. 138 Investigations into the nature of hydrogen adsorption beyond storage capacity require additional characterization tools; for example, variable-temperature capacity measurements are commonly used to calculate Q st . Temperature-programmed desorption measurements can also provide information regarding the magnitude of H 2 binding at strong adsorption sites.…”

Anionic and neutral 2D indium metal–organic frameworks as catalysts for the Ugi one-pot multicomponent reaction

“…Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) constitute a class of reticular materials, built up by the combination of metal cations and organic linkers to form extended, crystalline structures. 1 The huge range of possible combinations of metal elements 2 and organic linkers, 3 and their structural variability, make MOFs very versatile materials with application in an extensive variety of fields, such as catalytic applications, 4 gas and hydrocarbon storage 5,6 and separation, [7][8][9][10] electronic sensors 11,12 and water capture 13,14 and adsorption, 15 among others. [16][17][18][19] The use of MOFs in heterogeneous catalysis is particularly interesting as it is possible to attain different metal coordination environments in active solids, thus being possible to modify the activity and selectivity of the resulting catalysts towards a desired reaction.…”

Boosting the Catalytic Performance of Metal–Organic Frameworks for Steroid Transformations by Confinement within a Mesoporous Scaffold

“…Remarkably, hexanuclear Zr oxoclusters located at the nodes of MOF nanocrystals exhibit a much better performance than the metal oxide nanocrystals resulting from calcination (TOFs of 0.38 h −1 vs. 0.15 h −1 , respectively), demonstrating the advantage of using MOF hybrid materials as heterogeneous catalysts instead of traditional supported metal oxide nanoparticles for this specific reaction of high pharmaceutical interest (Supporting Information, Figure S12). Moreover, when the aim is the large‐scale development of MOF/SiO 2 hybrid catalysts, non‐regular mesoporous silica (silica(A); Supporting Information, Figure S12) exhibits excellent characteristics and thereby meets some of the basic requirements for large‐scale industrial applications (for example, the DOE's target price of 10 $ kg −1 MOF) . In this way, comparable catalytic activity was measured for 10.2 wt % MOF nanocrystals on silica(A) with respect to that of 13.2 wt % MOF on SBA‐15 (0.33 h −1 vs. 0.35 h −1 ; Supporting Information, Table S3).…”