Date of Publication:2022-10-06

Journal:Huagong Xuebao/CIESC Journal

Volume:72

Issue:9

Page Number:4740-4749

ISSN No.:0438-1157

Abstract:The impact of CO2 on the climate is getting more and more serious. Converting it into formic acid can simultaneously realize resource utilization and carbon emission reduction. The current research of CO2 hydrogenation to formic acid is mainly to find high-performance catalysts, and process design is also indispensable for the industrialization of formic acid, but the process design of CO2 electrocatalytic hydrogenation to formic acid has not been reported yet. Using natural gas whose main components are H2 and CO2 to produce hydrogen pressure swing adsorption desorption gas as raw materials, a process of gas membrane separation coupled with CO2 electrocatalytic hydrogenation to produce 30000 t of formic acid per year was designed and simulated in Unisim Design process simulation software. Then the sensitivity analysis method was used to optimize the membrane electrode area, cathode potential, H2 membrane area, CO2 membrane area, distillation column pressure and reflux ratio. The unit cost of formic acid under the optimal scheme is 6.37 CNY/kg, which is 31.88% higher than the traditional Kemiral-Leonard (KL) process, but the proposed process can reduce 33300 t CO2 per year, which has important environmental significance. Finally, through cost analysis, three effective solutions are proposed from the three aspects of reactor life, cost and electricity price, which can reduce the production cost of formic acid to that of the traditional KL process. © 2021, Editorial Board of CIESC Journal. All right reserved.

Note:新增回溯数据