Capci Database for sustainable chemistry

Knowledge Base: Climate protection in the production and use of chemicals

Best Practice: Solar Decomposition of Natural Gas

Solar Decomposition of Natural Gas

The process thermally decomposes natural gas (NG) in a high-temperature chemical reactor heated with concentrated solar energy. This process produces two products: an H2-rich gas and a carbon black. H2 is therefore produced with renewable energy. No pollutants are released during the solar process, and when the carbon produced is finally captured, there are no CO2 emissions from the entire process chain to electricity generation. Solar energy is stored as a transportable fuel. The fuel has no CO2 emissions: Carbon is sequestered as opposed to CO2.

Stage of Life Cycle

Products and Processes

GHG Reduction Potential

The carbon footprint depends on the construction of the solar panel and the end-of-life of the sequestered carbon in form of carbon black. A scenario was observed where the solar-thermal process avoids 277 MJ fossil fuel and 13.9 kg-equivalent CO2/kg H2 produced as compared to conventional steam-methane reforming and furnace black processing.

Solution Maturity Status

Under development:

The technology concept is not established yet. The focus is typically set on laboratory, pilot and evaluation processes.

Identification Keys / Drivers & Barriers

Additional Information and Tools

Hydrogen from Solar Thermal Energy: High Temperature Solar Chemical Reactor for Co-production of hydrogen and carbon black from natural gas cracking

Solar decomposition of fossil fuels as an option for sustainability

EU-Project SOLHYCARB – Solar Cracking of Methane

Legend

Solution maturity Status

Well established

This technology has been operating for a number of years and is well-known/ successful in its industry or market.

Solution maturity Status

Newly established

Stages where the technology concept is approved but has not been widely incorporated except by few companies.

Solution maturity Status

Under development

The technology concept is not established yet. The focus is typically set on laboratory, pilot and evaluation processes.

Stage of Life Cycle

Overarching

There are several practices that are relevant for all the stages of a process/product chain. In particular, best practices included here correspond to the optimization, tracking, performance measuring and other mechanisms that can lead to the improvement of products and processes. Hence, they do contribute to energy use performance, GHG emission reduction and other benefits across the supply chain. This set of best practices includes carbon accounting, advanced process control, digital monitoring, etc.

Stage of Life Cycle

Products and Processes

The stage includes the production and manufacturing process as well as products. Focus is given to:

Stage of Life Cycle

Non Product output

Practices included in this stage focus on outputs resulting e.g. from production processes that are not a chemical/material product per se. These practices refer in essence to resulting energy (e.g., heat and exhaust gases, etc.) or material (e.g., biomass by-products, waste, etc) outputs that can be reintegrated as inputs into new production processes. Hence, this results in energy and material savings.

Stage of Life Cycle

Inputs

Practices included in this stage are focused on the use of non-fossil raw material inputs and alternative feedstocks. E.g., biomass from secondary sources, particularly agricultural by-products, bio-waste, wastewater sludge as well as CO2 from carbon capture.

Stage of Life Cycle

Recycling / Recirculation / Reuse

Re-circulation, reuse, recovery, or recycling of energy and materials is essential for resource efficiency. Therefore, this stage integrates practices that are focused on the use of chemical outputs such as for example chemicals, materials, and other products that have reached their end of life (EoL) from a consumer perspective.

Identifikation Key

Energy Efficiency

This option relates to best practices with significant or positive energy efficiency potentials that can be implemented to reduce the GHG intensity of the chemical industry in particular sub-sectors. In general, efficiency gains can be seen as a mix of continuous retrofits of existing plants to reduce the specific energy consumption (usually incremental improvements) and replacement of old plants/building of new plants by using state-of-the-art technologies that could lead to better performance of chemical plants or infrastructure related to chemicals production.

Processes and Technology

Processes are the backbone of material transformation from feedstocks to final chemical products. Raw materials pass through different transformational stages with the aid of technologies to activate chemical reactions needed to obtain finished products. Processes are set up differently for several production industries although common production setups are similar for conventional chemicals. Energy consumption, resource efficiency, and quality of products are directly impacted by how processes are developed and the technologies used for manufacturing. Processes and technologies are therefore important to achieve GHG emission reduction and dependency on fossil-based material inputs as innovation and new processes development are enablers of sustainability across any type of industry.

Product

Physical goods, materials, and chemicals are produced with the purpose to fulfil a functional need. Products can be ingredients for the production of chemicals, chemical recipes, and substances, chemicals, or marketed products for public consumption. Products included in this category are products and services with lower carbon and environmental footprint. Independent of their material composition, products do have direct environmental impacts as finally raw materials and energy are needed for their manufacture. Hence, the development of more sustainable products is essential for the reduction of overall GHG emissions as they can make a difference regarding climate change specifically during their production and their end of life.

Emission Reduction

Emission reduction are processes, products, technologies, or systems that are aimed at decreasing the amount of GHG emissions that could result in the production of a particular chemical product. In this category, best practices have been selected considering a higher environmental performance in comparison with conventional practices. Although all best practices included in the CAPCI knowledge base do have a potential for emission reduction, best practices specially included in this identification key are those that are purposely developed to reach a significant reduction of atmospheric pollutants, toxins, and any other undesired GHG as listed in the IPCC Scientific Assessment of Climate Change, Chapter 1: Greenhouse Gases and Aerosols.

Resource Efficiency

Resource efficiency identification key includes techniques, technologies, or best practices that aim to optimize the use of energy and material resources needed for the production, manufacture, or development of chemical products where the final goal is preventing or eliminating any sources of waste. Resource efficiency techniques can range from systems and their components (in terms of infrastructure needed for production) to management of resources considering optimal use of primary and secondary resources to any other form of resource management that aims to extend the value and use of resources. As raw material scarcity increases, resource efficiency techniques are significant to minimize environmental impact, make better use of resources including energy and incentivize the development of strategies, products, and services that can combine scientific, knowledge, with know-how, regulation and investment.

Technology Optimization / Refurbishment

Optimization technologies are those aimed to improve the overal performance (energy efficiency, resource use, operational cycles, etc) of production processes. On the other hand, refurbishment of production and manufacturing equipment or power supply equipment is an option for energy gains that can be achievable for organizations that aim for quick and cheaper process optimization. Defective equipment can be repaired and old equipment can be updated when its physical and mechanical configuration allows it. Many times costs of new equipment represent a constraint for small organizations that seek to optimize energy consumption. Hence, technology refurbishment is an option to update machinery by accessing equipment that is no longer needed in more complex industrial setups and that is proven to be in good operational conditions. This type of solution can be categorized as part of a circular economy. It is practiced across the world but has major acceptability in countries where technology availability is limited and where industrial facilities are less complex. Technology refurbishment can significantly reduce the costs of energy consumption. However, refurbishment has its technical limits due to operational constraints and in some cases investing in new technology can be a better option in the long term.

Energy Recovery

Energy recovery offers a wide range of possibilities to extract the energetic value of waste energy (e.g., heat or gas) resulting at different stages of a production system and cycle it back into the same system or other surrounding infrastructure or plants. There are several energy recovery paths depending on the waste content and the technologies available. Usually, three types are common: 1) thermal conversion, 2) chemical conversion, and 3) biochemical conversion. However, energy recovery can also be attributed to capturing and reusing energy that is released in the form of heat to the air or water. For the chemical industry, energy recovery is a significant contributor to preventing heat contain in gases or energy in waste to be lost either in the atmosphere or through the decomposition process. The potential for energy recovery techniques is widely studied and several technologies and methods are available to help businesses prioritize resource efficiency and energy production through alternative routes.

Renewable Sources

Natural resources include all components of the natural world. These comprise renewable (biotic) and non-renewable (abiotic) raw materials, physical space, area/land, environmental media i. e. water, soil and air, flow resources such as geothermal energy, wind power, tidal and solar energy, and all living organisms.

Joint Initiatives

Joint Initiatives are programs and structured strategic agendas developed in conjunction with several partners, either from industrial sectors, private or public organizations, governments, or other civic organizations. Such initiatives are formed and developed to aim for a common goal by addressing major societal challenges that could be tackled cooperatively and more holistically. In the chemical industry, several initiatives are focusing on improving the sustainability performance of the industry, in which best practices, technology transfer, knowledge, and support for regulatory mechanisms are also interchanged.

Industrial Cooperation

In comparison to Joint Initiatives, industrial cooperation occurs mostly between chemical producers or in general, between a variety of organizations who can mutually benefit from e.g., resource cirulation (including material, energetic, economical or even labour). This means that all cooperative processes between industrial partners are done to meet industrial as well as business goals. The chemical sector one of the most important sectors in economical and societal development has increasingly seen the formation of industrial initiatives aiming to tackle common industry challenges such as pollution, GHG emissions, or toxicity of processes and products. The entire industry is undergoing accelerated changes impulsed by climate change and material resource constraints, therefore, industrial cooperation is key to eliminating burdens, increasing competition, and sustainability but also providing solutions that are future-oriented and climate neutral.

Business Models

A business model represents how a business or organization tries to create and capture value in a specific operative context. The chemical as well as other industries are looking to replace known linear models (take, make, waste) with the most resilient and resource-efficient alternatives having into consideration increasing demands for better sustainability performance. With the introduction of digitalization in all industry segments, business models in the chemical industry are being challenged to offer competitiveness and ensure socio-ecological responsibility. It is crucial for the chemical industry that business models are updated or developed to meet future challenges not only on an economic but also on an environmental level, especially given the pressure that events such as the climate crisis are putting on the industry. From basic chemicals to application-oriented solutions, materials, or other product innovations, business models describe the success factor a company will have in a long term.

Regulation

Regulatory frameworks to impulse the transition of the chemical sector towards more sustainable practices is in place in some countries and under development worldwide. However, there are still different regulations and guidelines.

Alternative Materials and Feedstocks

A feedstock can refer to raw materials that are unprocessed and whose purpose is to be used as an input material in manufacturing processes. Feedstocks are usually natural materials including ores, wood, and coal, but biomass in general and secondary resources such as waste and carbon dioxide itself are lately considered also as feedstock as technological advances have allowed the processing of such materials that are usually deemed as undesired. In industries, feedstocks are more related to materials used for energy production or fuels. For chemistry, in particular, feedstocks play an important role to support reactions at plant scales.

Process Simulation

Process simulation consists of the development of a digital model-based representation of chemical, physical, biological, and other technical processes as well as operational units. Software is used to operate, treace, manage and simulate production systems, thus giving options to engineers to have better control and understanding of the overall system performance. Process simulation offers the possibility to use so-called dummy data or real-time data to test different aspects of a production line until the right conditions for optimization are found through experimental and iterative processes that are based on intelligent decision-making. Usually, simulated processes have a lower risk of failures, higher energetical performance, and better possibilities to control processes even before an actual production plant is designed and constructed.

Research and Reports

The identification key Research and Reports aim to differentiate scientific and industrial efforts published in the form of reports, white papers, journals, position papers, or other research-based activities. In general, the best practices included in CAPCI knowledge base are publicly available research and reports that are mainly focused on climate change, GHG emission reduction, energy efficiency, best practices, technology, and innovation. RR provides a literary background based on facts and serve as a medium to transfer knowledge for organizations and by organizations.

Management and Digital Tools

The identification key aims to highlight best practices that are useful for businesses to take a more sustainable and holistic approach to the overall business environment. The chemical industry in particular has a potentially transformative effect that can drive other industries towards social and ecological oriented practices and management tools to provide ways to help managers, engineers, and other stakeholders to make better decisions. However, bringing organizational change while maximizing economic outcomes often leads to management dilemmas that put sustainability on a second plane. For this reason, management tools have been also integrated as they can provide options to make sustainable business models and sustainability strategies more feasible for companies. Not all management tools are useful equally for all industries and not all tools are useful for business management per se. Hence, the collection of management tools included in the knowledge base does provide alternatives to industries in general. Some tools are for example sustainability metrics, energy performance metrics, CO2 emission management, cost reduction analysis, supply chain management, decision-intelligent systems, and many others. A tool or a set of tools can be used in particular business circumstances having into consideration the needs and goals of the business and how the organization is looking e.g., to increase sustainability performance overall.

Digital twins

A digital twin is a virtual representation of a physical object regarding the full spectrum of dynamics, its design and operations. It combines engineering aspects and at the same time industry context as the same product can be used for different applications. Digital twins are necessary for example in virtual reality (VR) applications. Creating a digital twin, it allows companies/businesses to work more efficient, to lower potential risks and improve the overall quality of potential outcomes.

Vritual Reality / Augmented Reality

The Augmented Reality (AR) is applied by adding virtual elements to a real life setting via for example AR-glasses or a tablet which means, there is the possiblity to add virtual objects without changing the real life setting. Regarding Virtual Reality (VR), a new virtual scene is created without any real life scenes or objects. Using VR-Glasses, the user can enter into a complete virtual world.