ELECTROCHEMICAL COX REDUCTION AND HYDROGEN OXIDATION REACTOR
Provided herein are systems and methods for electrochemical CO x reduction and hydrogen oxidation reactions to promote the reduction of carbon oxides (CO x ). Embodiments of the systems and methods may be used to produce carbon monoxide (CO) and water. In various embodiments, a reaction between carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and hydrogen gas (H 2 ) occurs at the anode of a CO 2 reduction electrolyzer, promoting the production of reduction products (e.g., CO). In some embodiments, the methods may utilize a feed stream of H 2 gas from various sources. In some embodiments, a water electrolyzer upstream of the CO x reduction electrolyzer is a source of H 2 gas. In some embodiments, the systems and methods include downstream integration processes and related apparatus. In some embodiments, the downstream integration processes include Fischer-Tropsch processes.
1 . A method for producing a carbon-containing product, the method comprising:
providing a carbon oxide (CO x ) electrolyzer, the CO x electrolyzer comprising an anode, a cathode, and a membrane disposed between and conductively connecting the anode and the cathode;
feeding water to a water electrolyzer to produce hydrogen (H 2 );
feeding at least a portion of the H 2 produced by the water electrolyzer to the anode of the CO x electrolyzer to undergo hydrogen oxidation reaction at the anode;
feeding a carbon oxide to the cathode of the CO x electrolyzer to undergo a reduction reaction, thereby producing the carbon-containing product; and
outletting the carbon-containing product from the CO x electrolyzer.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the hydrogen oxidation reaction produces hydrogen ions that migrate through the membrane to the cathode.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the carbon oxide comprises CO 2 and the CO x electrolyzer is a CO 2 electrolyzer.
4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising producing water along with the carbon-containing product at the cathode of the CO 2 electrolyzer.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the carbon-containing product comprises one or more of carbon monoxide, a hydrocarbon, an alcohol, an aldehyde, a ketone, and/or a carboxylic acid.
6 . A method for producing liquid hydrocarbons from carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), the method comprising:
providing a CO 2 electrolyzer, the CO 2 electrolyzer comprising an anode, a cathode, and a membrane disposed between and conductively connecting the anode and the cathode;
feeding hydrogen (H 2 ) to the anode of the CO 2 electrolyzer to undergo hydrogen oxidation reaction at the anode;
feeding CO 2 to the cathode of the CO 2 electrolyzer to undergo a reduction reaction, thereby producing carbon monoxide (CO) at the cathode; and
reacting at least a portion of the CO produced by the CO 2 electrolyzer in one or more downstream systems to produce a chemical product.
7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the reacting comprises reacting at least a portion of the CO produced by the CO 2 electrolyzer and H 2 in a liquid hydrocarbon synthesis reactor, thereby producing a liquid hydrocarbon mixture.
8 . The method of claim 6 , wherein at least a portion of the H 2 fed to the anode of the CO 2 electrolyzer is produced by one or more water electrolyzers.
9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein at least a portion of the H 2 reacted in the liquid hydrocarbon synthesis reactor is produced by one or more water electrolyzers.
10 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising transporting at least a portion of the liquid hydrocarbon mixture from the liquid hydrocarbon synthesis reactor to a hydrocarbon cracking reactor.
11 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the liquid hydrocarbon synthesis reactor is configured to perform a Fischer-Tropsch process.
12 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the CO 2 fed to the cathode of the CO 2 electrolyzer is gaseous CO 2 .
13 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the CO 2 and/or the H 2 fed to the CO 2 electrolyzer is humidified CO 2 and/or humidified H 2 .
14 . A system for producing liquid hydrocarbons from carbon dioxide, the system comprising:
one or more carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) electrolyzers, at least one of the one or more CO 2 electrolyzers comprising an anode, a cathode, and a membrane disposed between and conductively connecting the anode and the cathode, the at least one of the CO 2 electrolyzers being configured to (i) feed H 2 to the anode to undergo a hydrogen oxidation reaction at the anode, and (ii) feed CO 2 to the cathode to undergo a CO 2 reduction reaction at the cathode to produce carbon monoxide (CO); and
one or more downstream systems being configured to receive at least a portion of the CO produced by the at least one of the CO 2 electrolyzers and to produce a chemical product by reacting the CO.
15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the one or more downstream systems comprises a liquid hydrocarbon synthesis reactor being configured to receive H 2 and at least a portion of the CO produced by the at least one of the CO 2 electrolyzers and to produce a liquid hydrocarbon mixture.
16 . The system of claim 14 , further comprising one or more water electrolyzers fluidically coupled to the one or more CO 2 electrolyzers.
17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the one or more CO 2 electrolyzers comprise at least one inlet for feeding at least a portion of the H 2 produced by the one or more water electrolyzers to one or more anodes of the CO 2 electrolyzers.
18 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the liquid hydrocarbon synthesis reactor is configured to receive at least a portion of the H 2 produced by the one or more water electrolyzers.
19 . The system of claim 14 , further comprising a gas separation device downstream the one or more CO 2 electrolyzers, the gas separation device configured to separate unreacted CO 2 from the CO in the cathode output stream of the CO 2 electrolyzer and to recycle at least a portion of the unreacted CO 2 to the cathode of the one or more CO 2 electrolyzer.
20 . A system for producing a carbon-containing product, the system comprising:
one or more water electrolyzers configured to produce H 2 from water; and
one or more carbon oxide (CO x ) electrolyzers fluidically coupled to the one or more water electrolyzers, at least one of the one or more CO x electrolyzers comprising an anode, a cathode, and a membrane disposed between and conductively connecting the anode and the cathode, the at least one of the one or more CO x electrolyzers being configured to (i) feed at least a portion of the H 2 produced by the one or more water electrolyzers to the anode to undergo a hydrogen oxidation reaction at the anode, and (ii) feed a carbon oxide to the cathode to undergo a CO x reduction reaction producing the carbon-containing product.