Integrated combustion flue gas separation and Methanation

Chemical energy storage is a potential process for balancing supply and demand in energy production based on renewable energy. The objective of this paper is firstly to review characteristics of conventional exhaust treatments and methane formation and secondly to propose a combustion flue gas methanation model that will be able to achieve an alternative energy storage solution. An initial description and technical analysis of its key features are presented. This research demonstrates a scalable process that integrates the abundance of renewable energy and the dispatchability of fossil fuels by using wind/Solar electricity to convert carbon dioxide into methane. As a result, an existing fossil-fuel-fired combustion appliance may be turned into a 100% carbon neutral system that maintains a closed-loop on carbon. The process includes the following critical steps: Capture of combustion exhaust, separation of water from the exhaust, Separation of nitrogen from the exhaust, a distillation of the water produced, electrolysis of the water to produce hydrogen, mixing of carbon dioxide and hydrogen in a Sabatier reactor to produce methane.