From Steel to Ethylene Super-Dry Reforming of CO2

Closing the carbon cycle in energy-intensive industries is a major objective for the EU to enable a climate-neutral, circular economy by 2050, as exemplified by the Green Deal. A crucial step to address greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in steel manufacturing is to close the carbon cycle by using the emitted CO2 to create a value chain and produce carbon-neutral fuels and chemicals. The here discussed value chain firstly converts CO2 into CO via the innovative super-dry reforming (SDR) technology, with addition of novel elements. Secondly, gas fermentation of CO to ethanol can be performed. Finally, the core technologies of SDR and gas fermentation can be coupled to commercial value chain technologies. The combination of SDR with gas fermentation for ethanol production will be able to achieve a carbon footprint below 20 g CO2 eq./MJ ethanol (compared to 34 g CO2 eq./MJ with the current technologies) and hence be a true game-changer in achieving ethanol production with acceptable climate impact. Innovations to the SDR technology will further reduce this impact. Producing isopropanol rather than ethanol, and extending the value chain to produce, in a flexible way, C2 - C3 olefins such as ethylene and propylene, with current market sizes above 120 Mtonne/y and 300 B€/y, will further consolidate the economics, and expand market opportunities.