A Waterloo Engineering research team is investigating how to turn carbon dioxide (CO2) into green fuel that can power aircraft with net-zero carbon emissions. Making air travel eco-friendly remains a pressing global challenge due to the sector’s dependence on fossil fuels.
Led by Dr. Eric Croiset, a professor of chemical engineering, the team studied an innovative approach to capturing CO2 directly from the air and converting it into sustainable fuel. The study aims to shift the perception of CO2 from a harmful greenhouse gas to a valuable feedstock for producing green fuels.
This idea could provide a financial incentive to treat CO2 as a resource, moving us closer to a circular carbon economy.
“Decarbonizing hard-to-abate industries, such as the aeronautic industry, is extremely challenging,” Croiset said. “Although several approaches are currently being investigated, the use of captured CO2, either from large point sources or from the air, can be a mid- to long-term option to produce sustainable fuels and chemicals, even if at present it remains an expensive proposition.”
The novel aspect of this research is combining experiments on CO2 capture with computer simulations to design the process and evaluate its environmental and economic performance. Using Aspen Plus, a well-established simulation software, coupled with in-house Python and Excel codes, the team models and optimizes data to envision how to change CO2 into, for example, jet fuel.
The study focused on integrating two emerging technologies — Direct Air Capture (DAC), taking CO2 from the air, and Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells (SOEC) that can be used to convert CO2 and steam into syngas, a gaseous mixture primarily composed of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H2). Syngas can be processed into synthetic chemicals or fuels such as sustainable aviation fuel.
Another distinctive aspect of the study is the experimental research to advance DAC. The group is developing a technology that can use renewable electricity to more efficiently extract CO2
“Overall, we are trying to combine detailed experimental research, for example on DAC technology development, with overall process simulation to better assess the economic and environmental benefits of such processes to manufacture fuels and chemicals from captured CO2,” said Croiset.
The next step in this research is to conduct experiments in the lab to develop more energetically efficient DAC technologies. The research group will also consider how to effectively scale -up this process.
The study, supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Environment and Climate Change Canada through the Climate Action and Awareness Fund, was recently published in the Journal of CO2 Utilization.
Mohammadali Emadi and Dr. Eric Croiset