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EP-4490251-B1 - METHOD OF PRODUCING LIQUID FUEL BLEND USING A CARBON REDUCING PROCESS

EP4490251B1EP 4490251 B1EP4490251 B1EP 4490251B1EP-4490251-B1

Inventors

  • OBRIST, FRANK

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20230309

Claims (9)

  1. A method of producing a liquid fuel blend for use in conventional combustion engines, wherein a methanol component is produced in an atmospheric carbon dioxide reducing process that is autonomously powered, in particular exclusively, by at least one renewable energy source, the carbon dioxide reducing process including the following steps: - producing oxygen in an electrolysis unit (11) which intakes a volume of water (M H2O ), in particular from the sea, via at least one water supply line (13) and breaks down the intake volume of water (M H2O ) into an oxygen quantity (M O2 ) and a hydrogen quantity; - conveying a first portion of the hydrogen quantity from the electrolysis unit (11) to a carbonization unit (34) and a second portion of the hydrogen quantity to a methanol synthesis unit (37); - scrubbing of ambient air (UL) in at least one carbon dioxide sorption unit (12), the carbon dioxide sorption unit (12) receiving the ambient air (UL) via at least one air inlet (14) and extracting a carbon dioxide quantity from the ambient air (UL) in at least one downstream sorber device (15); - conveying a first portion of the carbon dioxide quantity to the carbonization unit (34) and a second portion of the carbon dioxide quantity to the methanol synthesis unit (37); - producing carbon in the carbonization unit (34) by methane synthesis and methane splitting, the methane splitting being effected by Kvaerner processing and/or methane pyrolysis, and transporting the carbon to a long-term carbon storage, in particular an area of the seafloor, - combining the second portion of the hydrogen quantity and the second portion of the carbon dioxide quantity in the methanol synthesis unit (37) to produce the methanol component, and wherein the methanol component is mixed with an alcohol component and a fossil fuel component.
  2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the methanol component is mixed with the alcohol component and the fossil fuel component in a ratio such that the liquid fuel blend contains no more than 80% by volume of the fossil fuel component, at least 5% by volume of the alcohol component, and at least 15% by volume of the methanol component.
  3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the methanol component is mixed with the alcohol component and the fossil fuel component in a ratio such that the liquid fuel blend contains between 50%, in particular 65%, and 80% by volume of the fossil fuel component, between 5% to 20% by volume of the alcohol component, and between 10% to 30%, in particular 15%, by volume of the methanol component.
  4. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the renewable energy source is at least one photovoltaic unit (24) for converting solar energy into power, the photovoltaic unit (24) being located in a region having an global horizontal solar irradiation per year of at least 1.500 kWh/m 2 .
  5. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that heat from the carbonization unit (34) is conveyed to the carbon dioxide sorption unit (12) and used there as energy for the carbon sorption.
  6. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that heat from the methanol synthesis unit (37) is conveyed to the carbon dioxide sorption unit (12) and used there as energy for the carbon sorption.
  7. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the fossil fuel component is gasoline.
  8. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the alcohol component is ethanol, in particular synthetic ethanol that is produced by using, in particular exclusively, power of at least one renewable energy source.
  9. The method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least a portion of hydrogen and/or oxygen produced by the carbonization unit (34) is conveyed to the methanol synthesis unit (37) and used to produce the methanol component.

Description

The invention relates to a method of producing a liquid fuel blend using a carbon reducing process. The invention further relates to a use of methanol produced by the carbon reducing process as a portion of a liquid fuel blend. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution in 1800, the atmospheric CO2 concentration has increased from a previously stable 280 ppmv (parts per million by volume) to 410 ppmv in the year 2020. It is predicted this increase will continue, or respectively intensify, if no carbon mitigation techniques are adopted to curb emissions. The ratified Paris Agreement cites its main objective as keeping the increase in the average global temperature below 2° C above pre-industrial levels, which requires a reduction in CO2 emissions to zero by 2050. Proposals for limiting these emissions include the use of biofuels, solar power and wind turbines. However, reducing the past CO2 emissions, thus limiting the increase in the atmosphere's CO2 content, is not enough over the long term in order to rectify the imbalance of oxygen and CO2 in the atmosphere resulting from an overproduction of CO2 to date. Vehicle infrastructure today is mainly based on liquid fuels, in particular fossil fuels. In order to reduce CO2 emissions produced by burning fossil fuel, fuel blends containing CO2 neutral components have been developed. The resulting fuel blend should be usable in existing combustion engines, in particular in existing cars. The most commonly used liquid fuel blend in Europe is called E10 gasoline, a liquid fuel blend containing about 90% (fossil) gasoline and 10% ethanol. A more recent development is a liquid fuel blend containing about 80% (fossil) gasoline, about 5% ethanol and about 15% methanol. This liquid fuel blend is called A20 and shows a significant reduction of CO2 emissions by about 8% (well to wheel) compared to pure gasoline. Nevertheless, the use of A20 still leads to a significant emission of CO2 and there is a need for further reduction of CO2 emissions, at least until it is possible to actively reduce the atmospheric CO2 content. R.J. Pearson et. al. teaches in "Energy Storage via Carbon-Neutral Fuels Made From CO2, Water, and Renewable Energy" (Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol. 100, No. 2, Feb. 2012) a method of producing methanol and methane from carbon dioxide scrubbed from ambient air and from hydrogen produced in an electrolysis unit. The invention therefore seeks to provide a method of producing a liquid fuel blend for use in conventional combustion engines, which liquid fuel blend has a reduced carbon fingerprint. The invention provides a solution by the subject matter of claim 1. Specifically, the invention provides for a method of producing a liquid fuel blend for use in conventional combustion engines, wherein a methanol component is produced in an atmospheric carbon dioxide reducing process that is autonomously powered, in particular exclusively, by at least one renewable energy source, the carbon dioxide reducing process including the following steps: producing oxygen in an electrolysis unit which intakes a water volume MH2O, in particular from the sea, via at least one water supply line and breaks down the intake water volume MH2O into an oxygen quantity MO2 and a hydrogen quantity;conveying a first portion of the hydrogen quantity from the electrolysis unit to a carbonization unit and a second portion of the hydrogen quantity to a methanol synthesis unit;scrubbing of ambient air UL in at least one carbon dioxide sorption unit 12, the carbon dioxide sorption unit receiving the ambient air UL via at least one air inlet and extracting a carbon dioxide quantity from the ambient air UL in at least one downstream sorber device;conveying a first portion of the carbon dioxide quantity to the carbonization unit and a second portion of the carbon dioxide quantity to the methanol synthesis unit;producing carbon in the carbonization unit by methane synthesis and methane splitting, the methane splitting being effected by Kvaerner processing and/or monolith processing, and transporting the carbon to a long-term carbon storage, in particular an area of the seafloor,combining the second portion of the hydrogen quantity and the second portion of the carbon dioxide quantity in the methanol synthesis unit to produce the methanol component, and wherein the method further includes the step of mixing the methanol with an alcohol component and a fossil fuel component. In a preferred embodiment of the inventive method, the methanol is mixed with an alcohol component and a fossil fuel component in a ratio such that the liquid fuel blend contains no more than 80% by volume of the fossil fuel component, at least 5% by volume of the alcohol component, and at least 15% by volume of the methanol component. In a further preferred embodiment, the methanol component is mixed with the alcohol component and the fossil fuel component in a ratio such that the liquid fuel blend contains between 50%, in p