Ruud van Ommen

1. 8 maart 2022 1
e-Refinery:
Towards sustainable production of chemicals and fuels
Ruud van Ommen, Delft University of Technology

2. Paris Agreement
limit the increase to 1.5°C
in 2050 relative to 1990 levels.
Dutch ‘Klimaat akkoord’
49% CO2 -reduction of CO2 emission
in 2030 and 95% in 2050 relative to 1990 levels.
TARGETS TO
CO2 EMISSION
REDUCE

3. OPTIONS
THE INDUSTRY
Implement
Carbon Capture
and Storage
Increase
energy
efficiency
Use
Biomass as feedstock
CO2 & N2
conversion
MOBILITY SECTOR water electrolysis
& thermochemical
process
H2O
Use
sustainable
heat
Electric driving
H2
Hydrogen driving
Air
Indirect route Direct route
H2O
Air

4. 4
A sustainable energy system
Seasonal
Storage
>10 TWh
Battery
storage
Storage in
chemical bonds
Mechanical
storage
Heat
storage
Fluctuations
Hydrogen
Ammonia
Hydrocarbons
Feedstock
Fuel

5. 8 maart 2022 5
e-Refinery’s vision is
to accelerate the
transition towards
sustainable
production of
chemicals and fuels.

6. Indirect route
H2O
CO2, N2
Thermochemical
process
Process
Industry
Fuels
Bulk
chemicals
Use &
industry
Waste &
emission
N2
Renewable
electricity

7. H2O
CO2, N2
Process
Industry
Fuels
Bulk
chemicals
Use &
industry
Waste &
emission
N2
Renewable
electricity
Directroute

8. Electro-conversion: from atoms to factories
Most research up to now…
Large scale: high current density, considering materials availability, …

9. Scales Disciplines Research lines
Micro
Design of the
electrosynthesis process
Meso
Engineering of the
reactor and process
system design
Macro
Assessment of the
transition to e-Refinery
Power Engineering
Catalysis
Electrochemistry
Transport Phenomena
Reactor Engineering & Process Intensification
Process & Control
Materials Science
Separation Technology
Energy Technology & System Engineering
System Integration & Societal Embedding
Heat Engineering & Management
Base Chemicals & Fuels
CO, HCOOH, C2H4, NH3, CH4,
CH3OH, CH5OH, C4, C6………
(Bio)
Direct
route
Indirect
route
Parallel and Synergetic Development

10. Microbial electrosynthesis (MES)
Microbial electrosynthesis
CO2 gas streams Biobased products
H2O
Microorganisms
Minimal amount and not wasted
(ca. 1-4 kg/kg product)
10
Acetate
CO2
Butyrate
Caproate
Ludovic Jourdin

11. CO2
CO
ethylene kerosene
CO/H2
EC
TC
EC
EC
TC
TC
TC
TC / EC
methanol
TC
TC
TC
H2O
CO2/H2
EC
EC
Multiple routes towards key commodities
EC = Electro Chemical
TC = Thermal Chemical
TC
formic acid
EC
……….
EC

12. Indirect route Direct route
Direct
Electro-Chemical
Direct conversion
of CO2 and N2 into
fuels and
feedstock
Direct
Electrified
Biotechnology
Direct conversion
system using
microbial
electrodes
Complete conversion systems
Electro-Thermo-
Chemical
Combine advanced
electrolysers
(e.g. Battolyser) with
thermo-chemical
conversion
e-Bio-Refinery
Integrated
electro-synthesis
with bio- or
enzymatic-
conversions
Water
Electrolysis
Intermittency
Reactor design
System
optimization

13. 8 maart 2022 13
We develop:
Knowledge &
Technology for a
disruptive change to
electricity based
systems for
sustainable chemicals
and fuels.
We provide:
An open innovation hub
to realise multidisciplinary
collaboration with leading
R&D institutes and
industrial partners.
We educate:
Next generation of
scientists and
engineers to implement
and maintain future
fossil free industry.

14. The e-Refinery Team
Faculties of AS, TPM, EEMCS, 3ME, AE

15. e-Refinery - CO2 capture from air
Production of 10 kton/day
methanol from solar energy:
~240 km2 solar panels
<1 km2 CO2 capture area
Smith, Burdyny,
Vermaas & Geerlings,
Joule 3 (2019) 1822

16. Upscaling single cell
1 m high CO2
electrolyzer
Multi-cell CO2
electrolyser stack
~100 kW demo
Step 1
Step 1
Step 2
Step 2
Scaling up an electrolyser: Our approach
Parallel scaling:
• single cell size
• stacking

17. Electrolyser design: H-cell vs. Taylor flow
Bagemihl et al., in preparation, 2022
H-cell Taylor flow

18. Critical materials
Source: The Role of Critical Minerals in Clean Energy Transitions, IEA 2021
Share of clean energy technologies in total demand for
selected materials
Stated
Policies
Scenario
Sustainable
Development
Scenario
Atomic layer deposition (ALD)

19. Pt on graphene powder: catalyst activity in propene oxidation
100 ºC
200 ºC
Treact=200oC
Efficient platinum usage via ALD
Bui et al., Nanoscale 9 (2017) 10802

20. FlexEchem: chemical plants dealing with dynamics

21. Stakeholders NL

22. Stakeholders EU & World

23. Stakeholders Industry (snapshot)

24. Towards sustainable
production of chemicals
and fuels

26. Delft Energy Initiative
The 4 energy institutes
The 8 faculties