Performance assessment of a power-to-gas process based on reversible solid oxide cell

Abstract

Due to the foreseen growth of sustainable energy utilization in the upcoming years, storage of the excess production is becoming a rather serious matter. In this work, a promising solution to this issue is investigated using one of the most emerging technologies of electricity conversion: reversible solid oxide cells (RSOC). A detailed model was created so as to study the RSOC performance before implementing it in the global co-electrolysis Aspen Plus^TM model. The model was compared to experimental results and showed good agreement with the available data under steady state conditions. The system was then scaled up to a 10 MW co-electrolysis unit operating at 1073 K and 3 bar. The produced syngas is subsequently directed to a methanation unit to produce a synthetic natural gas (SNG) with an equivalent chemical power of 8.3 MW_th. Additionally, as a result of a heat integration analysis, the methanation process provides steam and electricity to operate the rest of the units in the process. A final CO₂ capture step is added to ensure the required specifications of the produced SNG for gas network injection. Lastly, the overall performance of the power-to-gas process was evaluated taking into account the energy consumption of each unit.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

renewable electricity / storage / co-electrolysis / methanation / carbone capture

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the French National Research Agency (ANR) trough “Systèmes Energétiques Efficaces et Décarbonés (SEED)” Program (project DEMETER) ref. ANR-11-SEED-0005-02.

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