Investigation of a new methanol, hydrogen, and electricity production system based on carbon capture and utilization

Abstract

It is well-known that clean energy transition requires low carbon emission. The increase in population, economic development, and human welfare demands has led to a rise in energy consumption, mainly supplied by fossil fuels. However, burning fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide, which is a greenhouse gas and a contributor to environmental problems. Therefore, carbon capture and conversion to different products have gained attention. On the other hand, combining two or more different thermodynamic systems for simultaneous production of various demands from one energy source looks reasonable. In this regard, a new trigeneration system is proposed to decrease atmospheric carbon dioxide emission and produce methanol, hydrogen, and power. A flue gas stream with a defined composition, solar energy, and atmospheric air are the system’s inlets. Then, mass, energy, and exergy balance equations are applied for each subsystem to investigate the system’s thermodynamic performance. Also, the effect of changing operating parameters on the performance of each subsystem is studied. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.