Pub Date : 2025-11-04DOI: 10.1016/j.fuproc.2025.108351
Yanli Wu , Zhiwei Zhang , Di Zhang , Lixing Zheng , Jianchao Ma
Renewable methanol production a promising pathway for industrial decarbonization, yet off-grid Power-to-Methanol (PTM) deployment is limited by the intermittency of wind and solar resources. With the aim to optimally configure an off-grid PTM system balancing efficiency, cost, and renewable utilization, we propose a flexible off-grid PTM process that integrates H₂O/CO₂ co-electrolysis and CO₂ energy storage, with a focus on the process intensification and flexibility operation. We employ a two-stage optimal dispatch model to determine optimal system capacities and conduct techno-economic assessment. Results show that the optimized system achieves 95.5 % renewable penetration, 62.0 % energy efficiency, a minimum levelized cost of methanol of $902.3/t, and a negative carbon intensity of −0.90 t CO₂ t−1 MeOH. Flexible operation extends annual operating hours of the solid oxide electrolysis cell and methanol synthesis unit to 8730 h and 8345 h, respectively. Sensitivity analysis identifies the solid oxide electrolysis cells as critical cost drivers. This work provides a technical solution for the efficient use of renewable energy in remote regions and presents a conceptual techno-economic design study based on modeling and simulation. These findings demonstrate that process flexibility and energy storage enable economically competitive, carbon-negative methanol production, advancing the role of PTM in industrial decarbonization.
可再生甲醇生产是工业脱碳的一个有前途的途径,但离网发电制甲醇(PTM)的部署受到风能和太阳能资源间歇性的限制。为了优化配置离网PTM系统,平衡效率、成本和可再生能源利用,我们提出了一种结合H₂O/CO₂共电解和CO₂储能的柔性离网PTM工艺,重点关注工艺集约化和灵活性操作。我们采用两阶段最优调度模型来确定最优系统容量并进行技术经济评估。结果表明,优化后的体系可再生能源渗透率为95.5%,能源效率为62.0%,甲醇的最低平准化成本为902.3美元/t,负碳强度为- 0.90 t CO₂t - 1 MeOH。灵活操作将固体氧化物电解池和甲醇合成装置的年运行时间分别延长至8730小时和8345小时。敏感性分析表明固体氧化物电解电池是关键的成本驱动因素。本研究为偏远地区可再生能源的有效利用提供了技术解决方案,并提出了基于建模和仿真的概念性技术经济设计研究。这些发现表明,工艺灵活性和能量存储能够实现具有经济竞争力的碳负甲醇生产,推进PTM在工业脱碳中的作用。
{"title":"Flexible off-grid renewable power-to-methanol system: Techno-economic optimization","authors":"Yanli Wu , Zhiwei Zhang , Di Zhang , Lixing Zheng , Jianchao Ma","doi":"10.1016/j.fuproc.2025.108351","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fuproc.2025.108351","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Renewable methanol production a promising pathway for industrial decarbonization, yet off-grid Power-to-Methanol (PTM) deployment is limited by the intermittency of wind and solar resources. With the aim to optimally configure an off-grid PTM system balancing efficiency, cost, and renewable utilization, we propose a flexible off-grid PTM process that integrates H₂O/CO₂ co-electrolysis and CO₂ energy storage, with a focus on the process intensification and flexibility operation. We employ a two-stage optimal dispatch model to determine optimal system capacities and conduct techno-economic assessment. Results show that the optimized system achieves 95.5 % renewable penetration, 62.0 % energy efficiency, a minimum levelized cost of methanol of $902.3/t, and a negative carbon intensity of −0.90 t CO₂ t<sup>−1</sup> MeOH. Flexible operation extends annual operating hours of the solid oxide electrolysis cell and methanol synthesis unit to 8730 h and 8345 h, respectively. Sensitivity analysis identifies the solid oxide electrolysis cells as critical cost drivers. This work provides a technical solution for the efficient use of renewable energy in remote regions and presents a conceptual techno-economic design study based on modeling and simulation. These findings demonstrate that process flexibility and energy storage enable economically competitive, carbon-negative methanol production, advancing the role of PTM in industrial decarbonization.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":326,"journal":{"name":"Fuel Processing Technology","volume":"279 ","pages":"Article 108351"},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2025-11-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145474607","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-30DOI: 10.1016/j.fuproc.2025.108356
Luxin Zhang , Lu Wang , Weiwei Shi , Yi Feng , Rong Chen
Abundant lipids-containing sewage sludge are potential inexpensive alternative substrate for biodiesel production. Herein, a novel polyoxometalate, Cs10[H1.8Ge3.2Nb11O39], with desirable acid-base bifunctionality, was synthesized. It demonstrated high efficiency in facilitating biodiesel production from sewage sludge, through in-situ esterification/transesterification, resulted in maximum biodiesel yields of 94.4 %. The catalyst exhibited good resistance to free fatty acids and demonstrated high water tolerance, retaining over 60 % yield even at 99 wt% moisture. To predict and optimize biodiesel yield from sewage sludge, this study presents a novel machine learning framework that integrates Radial Basis Function (RBF) interpolation-based data augmentation with Artificial Neural Network (ANN) modeling, achieving a high coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.96) and reduced prediction errors. The incorporation of RBF-enhanced data augmentation effectively mitigates model overfitting while improving cost-effectiveness. The influence of each parameter and relative importance of key reaction parameters on biodiesel production was elucidated by SHapley Additive exPlanations and partial dependence analysis. The physicochemical characteristics of the produced biodiesel met the specifications of international standards, indicating its potential to replace diesel fuel. This study not only offers a new approach to advancing sustainable biodiesel production processes with cheap substrates but also provides practical guidance for sewage sludge treatment and upcycling.
{"title":"Biodiesel production from sewage sludge catalyzed by polyoxometalate Cs10[H1.8Ge3.2Nb11O39]: Experiments, mechanism and machine learning modeling with radial basis function interpolation based data augmentation","authors":"Luxin Zhang , Lu Wang , Weiwei Shi , Yi Feng , Rong Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.fuproc.2025.108356","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fuproc.2025.108356","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Abundant lipids-containing sewage sludge are potential inexpensive alternative substrate for biodiesel production. Herein, a novel polyoxometalate, Cs<sub>10</sub>[H<sub>1.8</sub>Ge<sub>3.2</sub>Nb<sub>11</sub>O<sub>39</sub>], with desirable acid-base bifunctionality, was synthesized. It demonstrated high efficiency in facilitating biodiesel production from sewage sludge, through in-situ esterification/transesterification, resulted in maximum biodiesel yields of 94.4 %. The catalyst exhibited good resistance to free fatty acids and demonstrated high water tolerance, retaining over 60 % yield even at 99 wt% moisture. To predict and optimize biodiesel yield from sewage sludge, this study presents a novel machine learning framework that integrates Radial Basis Function (RBF) interpolation-based data augmentation with Artificial Neural Network (ANN) modeling, achieving a high coefficient of determination (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.96) and reduced prediction errors. The incorporation of RBF-enhanced data augmentation effectively mitigates model overfitting while improving cost-effectiveness. The influence of each parameter and relative importance of key reaction parameters on biodiesel production was elucidated by SHapley Additive exPlanations and partial dependence analysis. The physicochemical characteristics of the produced biodiesel met the specifications of international standards, indicating its potential to replace diesel fuel. This study not only offers a new approach to advancing sustainable biodiesel production processes with cheap substrates but also provides practical guidance for sewage sludge treatment and upcycling.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":326,"journal":{"name":"Fuel Processing Technology","volume":"279 ","pages":"Article 108356"},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2025-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145425293","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-29DOI: 10.1016/j.fuproc.2025.108353
Pasquale Francesco Zito , Jan Veres , Adolfo Iulianelli
Separation of H2 from CO2 is crucial in industry, since they are the products of water gas shift reaction. In addition, the demand for pure H2, as well as the potential reuse of CO2 as reactant, are increasing as a consequence of the transition from fossil fuels to decarbonization processes.
In this scenario, this work aims to propose a possible solution to get simultaneously pure H2 and CO2, meeting the world's requirements in terms of reduction of CO2 emissions and transition to cleaner energy. A simulated plant combining Pd-based and SAPO-34 membrane modules is able to provide pure H2, with a final recovery higher than 97%. In addition, the entire CO2 fed to SAPO-34 unit is recovered in the permeate stream, with a concentration of 97.7%.
A cost analysis shows that feed gas gives a higher contribution than compression, heat exchange and membranes (e.g., 70, 20, 3 and 7% respectively). Net profit and net present value are positive within a specific feed gas price range (e.g., net profit up to 0.10 and 0.155 $/Nm3, depending on the labour cost set), showing that the process can be cost-effective and profitable. H2 purification cost ranges between 2.6 and 7.8 $/kg.
{"title":"Decarbonised H2 recovery and CO2 capture using a cost-effective membrane plant: A step towards energy transition","authors":"Pasquale Francesco Zito , Jan Veres , Adolfo Iulianelli","doi":"10.1016/j.fuproc.2025.108353","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fuproc.2025.108353","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Separation of H<sub>2</sub> from CO<sub>2</sub> is crucial in industry, since they are the products of water gas shift reaction. In addition, the demand for pure H<sub>2</sub>, as well as the potential reuse of CO<sub>2</sub> as reactant, are increasing as a consequence of the transition from fossil fuels to decarbonization processes.</div><div>In this scenario, this work aims to propose a possible solution to get simultaneously pure H<sub>2</sub> and CO<sub>2</sub>, meeting the world's requirements in terms of reduction of CO<sub>2</sub> emissions and transition to cleaner energy. A simulated plant combining Pd-based and SAPO-34 membrane modules is able to provide pure H<sub>2</sub>, with a final recovery higher than 97%. In addition, the entire CO<sub>2</sub> fed to SAPO-34 unit is recovered in the permeate stream, with a concentration of 97.7%.</div><div>A cost analysis shows that feed gas gives a higher contribution than compression, heat exchange and membranes (e.g., 70, 20, 3 and 7% respectively). Net profit and net present value are positive within a specific feed gas price range (e.g., net profit up to 0.10 and 0.155 $/Nm<sup>3</sup>, depending on the labour cost set), showing that the process can be cost-effective and profitable. H<sub>2</sub> purification cost ranges between 2.6 and 7.8 $/kg.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":326,"journal":{"name":"Fuel Processing Technology","volume":"279 ","pages":"Article 108353"},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2025-10-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145425291","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-28DOI: 10.1016/j.fuproc.2025.108355
Biao Hu, Zhengjie Qiao, Kai Han, Shugang Li, Haifei Lin, Liang Cheng, Zeyu Ren, Rongwei Luo
CH₄ diffusion kinetics in coal are critical for coal mine gas disaster control. Conventional qualitative analyses of coal gas diffusion, based on unit-mass pore parameters, neglect its fundamental origin within individual particles. In this study, a medium-volatile bituminous coal sample was gradually crushed by a jaw crusher and screened with a sample sieve into six particle size ranges: 0.3–0.5, 0.2–0.3, 0.125–0.2, 0.074–0.125, 0.045–0.075, and < 0.045 mm. The coal particle was modeled as homogeneous spheres and quantitatively characterized the full-scale pore structure (micropores: <2 nm, mesopores: 2–50 nm, macropores: 50–300 nm) using low-pressure N₂ (77 K) and CO₂ (273 K) adsorption. By integrating particle density and median size (D50), unit-mass pore parameters were converted into single-particle parameters. Results show that as the particle size decreased from 0.3 to 0.5 mm to <0.045 mm, the total pore volume within a single particle decreased exponentially by nearly four orders of magnitude. In addition, the initial CH4 desorption rate (V0–1) increased rapidly (5.5 times) as the particle size decreased, while the initial CH4 diffusion coefficient (D0) decreased linearly from 1.47 × 10−13 m2/s to 4.29 × 10−15 m2/s (34.3 times). The attenuation coefficient (β) increased exponentially from 8.97 × 10−5 to 1.401 × 10−3 s−1 (15.6 times). Analysis from the single-particle perspective reveals that smaller coal particles have simpler pores, accelerating initial CH₄ desorption but hastening decay. This contradicts unit-mass perspective suggesting finer coal has richer porosity, indicating that mass-averaging in traditional methods obscures the true impact of particle size on diffusion kinetics.
{"title":"An experimental study on pore complexity in single-particle coal and its impact on CH₄ diffusion kinetics","authors":"Biao Hu, Zhengjie Qiao, Kai Han, Shugang Li, Haifei Lin, Liang Cheng, Zeyu Ren, Rongwei Luo","doi":"10.1016/j.fuproc.2025.108355","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fuproc.2025.108355","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>CH₄ diffusion kinetics in coal are critical for coal mine gas disaster control. Conventional qualitative analyses of coal gas diffusion, based on unit-mass pore parameters, neglect its fundamental origin within individual particles. In this study, a medium-volatile bituminous coal sample was gradually crushed by a jaw crusher and screened with a sample sieve into six particle size ranges: 0.3–0.5, 0.2–0.3, 0.125–0.2, 0.074–0.125, 0.045–0.075, and < 0.045 mm. The coal particle was modeled as homogeneous spheres and quantitatively characterized the full-scale pore structure (micropores: <2 nm, mesopores: 2–50 nm, macropores: 50–300 nm) using low-pressure N₂ (77 K) and CO₂ (273 K) adsorption. By integrating particle density and median size (<em>D</em>50), unit-mass pore parameters were converted into single-particle parameters. Results show that as the particle size decreased from 0.3 to 0.5 mm to <0.045 mm, the total pore volume within a single particle decreased exponentially by nearly four orders of magnitude. In addition, the initial CH<sub>4</sub> desorption rate (<em>V</em><sub>0</sub><sub>–</sub><sub>1</sub>) increased rapidly (5.5 times) as the particle size decreased, while the initial CH<sub>4</sub> diffusion coefficient (<em>D</em><sub>0</sub>) decreased linearly from 1.47 × 10<sup>−13</sup> m<sup>2</sup>/s to 4.29 × 10<sup>−15</sup> m<sup>2</sup>/s (34.3 times). The attenuation coefficient (<em>β</em>) increased exponentially from 8.97 × 10<sup>−5</sup> to 1.401 × 10<sup>−3</sup> s<sup>−1</sup> (15.6 times). Analysis from the single-particle perspective reveals that smaller coal particles have simpler pores, accelerating initial CH₄ desorption but hastening decay. This contradicts unit-mass perspective suggesting finer coal has richer porosity, indicating that mass-averaging in traditional methods obscures the true impact of particle size on diffusion kinetics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":326,"journal":{"name":"Fuel Processing Technology","volume":"279 ","pages":"Article 108355"},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2025-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145425292","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-24DOI: 10.1016/j.fuproc.2025.108352
Xingke Zhang , Yan Zhang , Shuo Zhang , Lihong Yao , Yinan Hao
Facing the dual challenges of fossil energy depletion and environmental pollution, the development of clean energy, particularly carbon-neutral biomass, has gained significant attention. Biomass thermochemical conversion offers an efficient pathway to produce high-value chemicals. This review systematically examines five key aspects: biomass pretreatment, catalytic pyrolysis, catalyst deactivation, machine learning applications, and industrial production. Pretreatment methods improve biomass quality and facilitate subsequent processing. Catalytic pyrolysis, employing catalysts such as alkaline earth metals, acidic sites, zeolites, and rare-earth metals, shows great potential for producing renewable fuels and chemicals. The review compares the performance of various catalysts and discusses their impact on bio-oil yield and quality. Additionally, it summarizes major causes of catalyst deactivation and emerging machine learning approaches for optimizing pyrolysis processes. Current industrial-scale biomass refining installations are also reviewed. Finally, a SWOT analysis is provided to evaluate the challenges and opportunities of biomass pyrolysis, along with future research priorities for industrial scaling.
{"title":"Lignocellulosic biomass pyrolysis: A review on the pretreatment and catalysts","authors":"Xingke Zhang , Yan Zhang , Shuo Zhang , Lihong Yao , Yinan Hao","doi":"10.1016/j.fuproc.2025.108352","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fuproc.2025.108352","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Facing the dual challenges of fossil energy depletion and environmental pollution, the development of clean energy, particularly carbon-neutral biomass, has gained significant attention. Biomass thermochemical conversion offers an efficient pathway to produce high-value chemicals. This review systematically examines five key aspects: biomass pretreatment, catalytic pyrolysis, catalyst deactivation, machine learning applications, and industrial production. Pretreatment methods improve biomass quality and facilitate subsequent processing. Catalytic pyrolysis, employing catalysts such as alkaline earth metals, acidic sites, zeolites, and rare-earth metals, shows great potential for producing renewable fuels and chemicals. The review compares the performance of various catalysts and discusses their impact on bio-oil yield and quality. Additionally, it summarizes major causes of catalyst deactivation and emerging machine learning approaches for optimizing pyrolysis processes. Current industrial-scale biomass refining installations are also reviewed. Finally, a SWOT analysis is provided to evaluate the challenges and opportunities of biomass pyrolysis, along with future research priorities for industrial scaling.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":326,"journal":{"name":"Fuel Processing Technology","volume":"279 ","pages":"Article 108352"},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2025-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145360916","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-21DOI: 10.1016/j.fuproc.2025.108349
Bin Wang , Kai Luo , Xiangming Chen , Kai Deng , Jian Long , Wenze Guo
The fluid catalytic cracking process utilizing the dual-riser reactors (MIP-LTAG) holds significant importance in the development of petrochemical enterprises. It aims to reduce fuel consumption while increasing output. Consequently, modeling for the production process is an essential task. However, traditional methods struggle to accurately describe the complex reaction mechanisms involved in the cracking/pyrolysis dual reaction pathways. Additionally, due to the coupling of variables and insufficiency of dynamic characteristics, capturing multi-variable spatio-temporal dependencies remains challenging. This paper focuses on key indicators such as product yield and carbon emissions within the core reaction-regeneration unit of the target technological process. A lumped kinetic mechanism model is constructed to balance the reaction pathway. Variational mode decomposition (VMD) is employed to perform decomposition of the coupled variables. The unsupervised dual-stage attentional long short term memory model (UDA-LSTM) is utilized to capture multi-scale characteristics. To leverage these advantages, this paper designs three hybrid model for collaborative optimization of multi-objective predictions. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed hybrid modeling framework is validated through an actual industrial production case. The predicted mean squared error (MSE) of the main product yield does not exceed 0.2, and the constructed process model supports real-time monitoring of the production process by refineries.
{"title":"Multi-strategy modeling integrating kinetics mechanism of cracking and pyrolysis and unsupervised dual-stage attention long and short-term memory network","authors":"Bin Wang , Kai Luo , Xiangming Chen , Kai Deng , Jian Long , Wenze Guo","doi":"10.1016/j.fuproc.2025.108349","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fuproc.2025.108349","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The fluid catalytic cracking process utilizing the dual-riser reactors (MIP-LTAG) holds significant importance in the development of petrochemical enterprises. It aims to reduce fuel consumption while increasing output. Consequently, modeling for the production process is an essential task. However, traditional methods struggle to accurately describe the complex reaction mechanisms involved in the cracking/pyrolysis dual reaction pathways. Additionally, due to the coupling of variables and insufficiency of dynamic characteristics, capturing multi-variable spatio-temporal dependencies remains challenging. This paper focuses on key indicators such as product yield and carbon emissions within the core reaction-regeneration unit of the target technological process. A lumped kinetic mechanism model is constructed to balance the reaction pathway. Variational mode decomposition (VMD) is employed to perform decomposition of the coupled variables. The unsupervised dual-stage attentional long short term memory model (UDA-LSTM) is utilized to capture multi-scale characteristics. To leverage these advantages, this paper designs three hybrid model for collaborative optimization of multi-objective predictions. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed hybrid modeling framework is validated through an actual industrial production case. The predicted mean squared error (MSE) of the main product yield does not exceed 0.2, and the constructed process model supports real-time monitoring of the production process by refineries.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":326,"journal":{"name":"Fuel Processing Technology","volume":"279 ","pages":"Article 108349"},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2025-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145334569","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-17DOI: 10.1016/j.fuproc.2025.108350
Emilija Todorovski , Filip Todorovski , Andrej Lotrič , Mitja Mori , Blaž Likozar , Søren Juhl Andreasen , Mihael Sekavčnik
The Net Zero Scenario, driven by the imperative of carbon neutrality, demands a major reduction in reliance on fossil fuel-based hydrogen production. Another challenge is hydrogen's storage and transport due to its low volumetric energy density. These issues have elevated hydrogen carriers—particularly methanol—to a prominent position. Methanol's favorable H/C ratio, liquid state under ambient conditions, and renewable production potential establish it as a compelling hydrogen carrier. Already essential in vehicle fuels and chemical production, methanol's role is poised to expand further. Among conversion routes, methanol steam reforming (MSR) stands out for its high hydrogen yield and low CO production. This review outlines strategies for lowering the MSR reaction temperature, enabling integration with proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC), and leveraging the thermal synergy between the two systems. The review highlights the critical roles of catalysts and reactor design in optimizing MSR–PEMFC integration. A detailed evaluation of Cu-based and group 8–10 metal catalysts provides insight into their suitability for PEMFC applications. Reactor configurations, including conventional, membrane, and micro-channeled designs, are assessed for their integration potential. Finally, the review synthesizes these findings into design-oriented insights for optimizing MSR–PEMFC systems, emphasizing catalyst selection, reactor configuration, and system-level integration, offering practical pathways for implementation.
{"title":"Catalytic methanol reforming process intensification for integration with proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) - Review","authors":"Emilija Todorovski , Filip Todorovski , Andrej Lotrič , Mitja Mori , Blaž Likozar , Søren Juhl Andreasen , Mihael Sekavčnik","doi":"10.1016/j.fuproc.2025.108350","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fuproc.2025.108350","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Net Zero Scenario, driven by the imperative of carbon neutrality, demands a major reduction in reliance on fossil fuel-based hydrogen production. Another challenge is hydrogen's storage and transport due to its low volumetric energy density. These issues have elevated hydrogen carriers—particularly methanol—to a prominent position. Methanol's favorable H/C ratio, liquid state under ambient conditions, and renewable production potential establish it as a compelling hydrogen carrier. Already essential in vehicle fuels and chemical production, methanol's role is poised to expand further. Among conversion routes, methanol steam reforming (MSR) stands out for its high hydrogen yield and low CO production. This review outlines strategies for lowering the MSR reaction temperature, enabling integration with proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC), and leveraging the thermal synergy between the two systems. The review highlights the critical roles of catalysts and reactor design in optimizing MSR–PEMFC integration. A detailed evaluation of Cu-based and group 8–10 metal catalysts provides insight into their suitability for PEMFC applications. Reactor configurations, including conventional, membrane, and micro-channeled designs, are assessed for their integration potential. Finally, the review synthesizes these findings into design-oriented insights for optimizing MSR–PEMFC systems, emphasizing catalyst selection, reactor configuration, and system-level integration, offering practical pathways for implementation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":326,"journal":{"name":"Fuel Processing Technology","volume":"278 ","pages":"Article 108350"},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2025-10-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145333147","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-10DOI: 10.1016/j.fuproc.2025.108348
Amer Inayat , Petra Wojnarova , Piotr Jachimowicz , Jacopo De Maron , Elisabetta Orfei , Nicola Schiaroli , Carlo Lucarelli , Kamil Gorecki , Francesco Basile , Pavel Lestinsky , Jiri Rusin
Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a promising technology for converting food waste (FW) or other biodegradable organic waste (BOW) into renewable biogas, while dry reforming of methane (DRM) is an environmentally friendly route for converting greenhouse gases into syngas. Moreover, the use of renewable biogas in dry reforming aligns with the global sustainability goals for reducing reliance on fossil fuels in producing important chemicals. In this regard, the present study deals with the valorization of food waste into renewable hydrogen/syngas by integrating AD and DRM. AD of FW was carried out in a lab-scale anaerobic reactor and the resulting biogas was passed over a sorption bed for H2S removal. It was shown that iron hydroxide-based materials can effectively remove H2S, thereby providing a clean biogas feed suitable for catalytic dry reforming. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the Ni catalyst, doped with a small amount of noble metal and supported on MgAl mixed oxides, exhibits superior catalytic performance in reforming of real or model biogas mixtures. The catalyst showed outstanding stability despite online changes in the reaction parameters. This study may provide new insights toward the development of sustainable processes that simultaneously reduce BOW and CO2, while also generating valuable products.
{"title":"Valorization of food waste into renewable fuels via anaerobic digestion and inline CO2 reforming over Ni-based catalysts","authors":"Amer Inayat , Petra Wojnarova , Piotr Jachimowicz , Jacopo De Maron , Elisabetta Orfei , Nicola Schiaroli , Carlo Lucarelli , Kamil Gorecki , Francesco Basile , Pavel Lestinsky , Jiri Rusin","doi":"10.1016/j.fuproc.2025.108348","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fuproc.2025.108348","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a promising technology for converting food waste (FW) or other biodegradable organic waste (BOW) into renewable biogas, while dry reforming of methane (DRM) is an environmentally friendly route for converting greenhouse gases into syngas. Moreover, the use of renewable biogas in dry reforming aligns with the global sustainability goals for reducing reliance on fossil fuels in producing important chemicals. In this regard, the present study deals with the valorization of food waste into renewable hydrogen/syngas by integrating AD and DRM. AD of FW was carried out in a lab-scale anaerobic reactor and the resulting biogas was passed over a sorption bed for H<sub>2</sub>S removal. It was shown that iron hydroxide-based materials can effectively remove H<sub>2</sub>S, thereby providing a clean biogas feed suitable for catalytic dry reforming. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the Ni catalyst, doped with a small amount of noble metal and supported on Mg<img>Al mixed oxides, exhibits superior catalytic performance in reforming of real or model biogas mixtures. The catalyst showed outstanding stability despite online changes in the reaction parameters. This study may provide new insights toward the development of sustainable processes that simultaneously reduce BOW and CO<sub>2</sub>, while also generating valuable products.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":326,"journal":{"name":"Fuel Processing Technology","volume":"278 ","pages":"Article 108348"},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2025-10-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145263018","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-06DOI: 10.1016/j.fuproc.2025.108347
Jun Yu , Rui Xu , Yong Guo , Dongsen Mao , Tao Meng , Xiang Zheng , Haifang Mao
CO2 hydrogenation to produce high-value fuels like ethanol represents a cutting-edge research frontier, yet overcoming the low ethanol productivity remains a challenge. Herein, a series of Fe-promoted Rh/CeO2 catalysts were prepared by varying the impregnation sequences, and investigated their catalytic performance of ethanol synthesis via CO2 hydrogenation. The Fe/Rh/CeO₂ catalyst, fabricated through sequential Rh impregnation followed by Fe deposition, demonstrated remarkable performance, achieving 19.8 % ethanol selectivity at 10.8 % CO₂ conversion, with a notable one-pass ethanol productivity of 25.3 mmol·gRh−1·h−1. Characterization results revealed that sequential Rh impregnation prior to Fe can promote the Rh dispersion and metal-support interaction, enhancing CO₂ adsorption and dissociation capability. This interface also facilitates the transformation of absorbed b-CO32− into CO(l), provides high concentrations of CO(l) and HCOO* intermediates simultaneously, and finally boosting the ethanol formation by the C − C coupling reaction.
{"title":"Stepwise Fe introduction tailors Rh-CeO2 active sites for selective CO2 hydrogenation to ethanol","authors":"Jun Yu , Rui Xu , Yong Guo , Dongsen Mao , Tao Meng , Xiang Zheng , Haifang Mao","doi":"10.1016/j.fuproc.2025.108347","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fuproc.2025.108347","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>CO<sub>2</sub> hydrogenation to produce high-value fuels like ethanol represents a cutting-edge research frontier, yet overcoming the low ethanol productivity remains a challenge. Herein, a series of Fe-promoted Rh/CeO<sub>2</sub> catalysts were prepared by varying the impregnation sequences, and investigated their catalytic performance of ethanol synthesis via CO<sub>2</sub> hydrogenation. The Fe/Rh/CeO₂ catalyst, fabricated through sequential Rh impregnation followed by Fe deposition, demonstrated remarkable performance, achieving 19.8 % ethanol selectivity at 10.8 % CO₂ conversion, with a notable one-pass ethanol productivity of 25.3 mmol·g<sub>Rh</sub><sup>−1</sup>·h<sup>−1</sup>. Characterization results revealed that sequential Rh impregnation prior to Fe can promote the Rh dispersion and metal-support interaction, enhancing CO₂ adsorption and dissociation capability. This interface also facilitates the transformation of absorbed b-CO<sub>3</sub><sup>2−</sup> into CO(l), provides high concentrations of CO(l) and HCOO* intermediates simultaneously, and finally boosting the ethanol formation by the C − C coupling reaction.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":326,"journal":{"name":"Fuel Processing Technology","volume":"278 ","pages":"Article 108347"},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2025-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145263019","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-30DOI: 10.1016/j.fuproc.2025.108346
Jinxu Hao , Xianda Sun , Baibin Ma , Wanzhen Huang , Yuandong Yang , Xiaohan Ren
The carbon-neutral and carbon-negative energy utilization technologies have long been people pursued to realize the strategic objective of carbon neutrality. Herein, we propose a cation-exchange membrane (CEM) direct formate-CO2 fuel cell that possesses the capability of simultaneously generating electricity and producing hydrogen, as well as continuously transforming carbon dioxide into pure sodium bicarbonate. Using the CO2-derived formate fuel, the roof-of-concept CEM direct formate-CO2 fuel cell exhibits a peak power density of 38 mW cm−2 at 80 °C without the assistance of additional electrolyte. The fairly stable constant-current discharge curve along with the detected hydrogen and pure sodium bicarbonate prove the conceptual feasibility of this electricity‑hydrogen-bicarbonate co-production device. By adding alkaline electrolyte to the anode, we achieved a higher peak power density of 63 mW cm−2 at the corresponding hydrogen production rate of 0.57 mL min−1 cm−2. More interestingly, the concentrations of pure NaHCO3 solution can be controlled by adjusting the cathode water flow rate and fuel cell discharge current density. This work presents a theoretically feasible avenue for coupling hydrogen production and CO2 utilization.
为实现碳中和的战略目标,碳中和和负碳能源利用技术一直是人们追求的目标。在此,我们提出了一种阳离子交换膜(CEM)直接甲酸-二氧化碳燃料电池,它具有同时发电和产氢的能力,并能不断地将二氧化碳转化为纯碳酸氢钠。使用二氧化碳衍生的甲酸燃料,CEM直接甲酸-二氧化碳燃料电池在80°C下,无需额外电解质的帮助,其峰值功率密度为38 mW cm - 2。相当稳定的恒流放电曲线以及检测到的氢气和纯碳酸氢钠证明了该电-碳酸氢钠联产装置在概念上的可行性。通过在阳极中加入碱性电解质,我们获得了更高的峰值功率密度为63 mW cm−2,相应的产氢速率为0.57 mL min−1 cm−2。更有趣的是,可以通过调节阴极水流量和燃料电池放电电流密度来控制纯NaHCO3溶液的浓度。这项工作提出了一个理论上可行的途径耦合氢气生产和二氧化碳利用。
{"title":"A cation-exchange membrane direct formate-CO2 fuel cell: Enabling simultaneous hydrogen production and CO2 utilization","authors":"Jinxu Hao , Xianda Sun , Baibin Ma , Wanzhen Huang , Yuandong Yang , Xiaohan Ren","doi":"10.1016/j.fuproc.2025.108346","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fuproc.2025.108346","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The carbon-neutral and carbon-negative energy utilization technologies have long been people pursued to realize the strategic objective of carbon neutrality. Herein, we propose a cation-exchange membrane (CEM) direct formate-CO<sub>2</sub> fuel cell that possesses the capability of simultaneously generating electricity and producing hydrogen, as well as continuously transforming carbon dioxide into pure sodium bicarbonate. Using the CO<sub>2</sub>-derived formate fuel, the roof-of-concept CEM direct formate-CO<sub>2</sub> fuel cell exhibits a peak power density of 38 mW cm<sup>−2</sup> at 80 °C without the assistance of additional electrolyte. The fairly stable constant-current discharge curve along with the detected hydrogen and pure sodium bicarbonate prove the conceptual feasibility of this electricity‑hydrogen-bicarbonate co-production device. By adding alkaline electrolyte to the anode, we achieved a higher peak power density of 63 mW cm<sup>−2</sup> at the corresponding hydrogen production rate of 0.57 mL min<sup>−1</sup> cm<sup>−2</sup>. More interestingly, the concentrations of pure NaHCO<sub>3</sub> solution can be controlled by adjusting the cathode water flow rate and fuel cell discharge current density. This work presents a theoretically feasible avenue for coupling hydrogen production and CO<sub>2</sub> utilization.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":326,"journal":{"name":"Fuel Processing Technology","volume":"278 ","pages":"Article 108346"},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145227249","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}