Sbir phase I: high-efficiency, electrified reverse-water gas shift for sustainable fuels production

This $274,042 Project Grant awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) program supports the development and demonstration of a bench-scale reactor for a high-temperature reverse water-gas shift (RWGS) process. The project aims to improve the materials and design of the RWGS reactor, which can produce electrofuels (e-fuels) from electricity, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen as a low-carbon alternative to fossil fuels, particularly for applications like aviation and shipping that are challenging to electrify. The research is focused on enhancing the reaction rate and durability of the micro-structured reactor materials to enable greater cost effectiveness for e-fuels production. If successful, this work could unlock significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, up to 1 gigaton annually for the aviation sector or 3-5 gigatons across transportation sectors. The award period runs from November 2023 through April 2024.

Abstract

The broader impact/commercial potential of this small business innovation research (SBIR) phase I project will be to directly and immediately lower the long-term costs of E-fuels (ELECTROFUELS), or fuels derived from electricity, carbon dioxide and hydrogen. The E-fuels produced by the process represent an important alternative for fossil fuels in aviation, shipping, and other areas of transportation that are challenging to electrify. The societal impact of the system would allow low-carbon or even carbon-neutral, drop-in replacement E-fuels for fossil fuels. Applied at scale to the aviation sector, this technology could enable reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of roughly 1 gigaton (GT) annually. Extending E-fuels usage into additional sectors such as shipping and long-haul ground transportation could enable up to 3-5 GT annual reductions in emissions. Commercially, the E-fuels developed in this project could provide a viable alternative for a multi-trillion-dollar market for fossil fuels in these sectors if they can be made cost effectively. The research would demonstrate a solution that can achieve substantially lower capital costs and operating costs of producing E-fuels. This SBIR phase I project builds and demonstrates a bench-scale reactor for a high-temperature reverse water-gas shift (RWGS) process with electricity as the only energy source. Despite its potential to mitigate emissions, the RWGS reaction has not been widely deployed due to the high temperatures required and the difficulty in achieving uniformity within conventional chemical reactors. The micro-structured materials presented in the project have shown unprecedented reaction rates and process intensity in initial experiments at the lab-scale. The research will focus on improving these materials, and their durability and incorporating them into an integrated reactor system. The technical project will include: (1) developing a multi-scale model of the reactor to optimize the geometry of the reactor materials; (2) prototyping and fabricating the optimized reactor materials; (3) modifying the micro-structured materials with coatings and active metals as needed; and (4) testing of the reactor system to optimize the reaction. At the end of the project, the system will be ready for integration into a larger pilot-scale system that should unlock unprecedented cost reductions for carbon dioxide and hydrogen derived products and broader applications within green chemistry. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are not planned for this award.