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Syngas is traditionally used in industry for production of fuels in the kerosene, gasoline and diesel range via Fischer-Tropsch, for the manufacture of bulk chemicals like ammonia, methanol and dimethyl ether and for synthesis of a whole array of fine chemicals. The carbon monoxide/hydrogen ratio of the syngas is an important design variable to maximize production of these compounds. Therefore, the search of effective processes that enable said ratio adjustment as well as individual compound purification is an essential and ongoing effort for industry. In this work, we propose a development of a zeolite-based separation process to obtain carbon dioxide-neutral fuels and chemicals. The process designed is based on gas uptake and release, combining separation efficiency with low separation costs. Calculation of separation behavior has been done for mixtures generated by plasmolysis of CO2. Carbon dioxide dissociation into CO and O2 and as a result a mixture of carbon monoxide, oxygen and a residual carbon dioxide is obtained. Therefore, the purification of CO becomes necessary. Here we provide a purification process design based in multicomponent adsorption and separation in commercial available zeolites. The process identifies NaX and NaY as the most suitable zeolites for separation in a wide range of operating conditions.

Significant growth of the share of (intermittent) renewable power in the chemical industry is imperative to meet increasingly stricter limits on CO2 exhaust that are being implemented within Europe. This paper aims to evaluate the potential of a plasma process that converts input CO2 into a pure stream of CO to aid in renewable energy penetration in this sector. A realistic process design is constructed to serve as a basis for an economical analysis. The manufacturing cost price of CO is estimated at 1.2 kUS$ ton-1 CO. A sensitivity analysis shows that separation is the dominant cost factor, so that improving conversion is currently more effective to lower the price than e.g. energy efficiency.

Reactor types for commercial-scale methanol-to-olefins (MTO) processes in the ethene mode, using a small-pore molecular-sieve catalyst, have been evaluated both qualitatively and quantitatively. A kinetic model has been developed via an iterative process of model formulation, parameter estimation, and model validation. The final model consists of 12 reactions involving 6 component lumps plus coke. Important factors are the occurrence of consecutive reactions and the effect of coke on both the activity and selectivity. This kinetic model has been implemented in mathematical models of various reactors for the estimation of product selectivities and main reactor dimensions. These formed the basis for a comparison of different reactor types for a commercial-scale process. A circulating fast fluidized-bed reactor and a turbulent fluidized-bed reactor emerged as the most promising reactor systems for MTO in the ethene mode; ethene/propene ratios of 1--1.5 can be achieved with realistic reactor dimensions.