A Techno‐Economic Analysis of Chemical Processing with Ionizing Radiation

McConnaughy, Thomas B.; Shaner, Matthew R.; McFarland, Eric W.

doi:10.1002/ceat.201600507

Cited by 5 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 17 publications

(17 reference statements)

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“…Of late, co-production with nuclear systems 2 , 7 – 10 has attracted attention, particularly for hydrogen production and water desalination. However, these options are comparable to electricity production in terms of profitability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nuclear-driven production of renewable fuel additives from waste organics

et al. 2021

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Non-intermittent, low-carbon energy from nuclear or biofuels is integral to many strategies to achieve Carbon Budget Reduction targets. However, nuclear plants have high, upfront costs and biodiesel manufacture produces waste glycerol with few secondary uses. Combining these technologies, to precipitate valuable feedstocks from waste glycerol using ionizing radiation, could diversify nuclear energy use whilst valorizing biodiesel waste. Here, we demonstrate solketal (2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxolane-4-yl) and acetol (1-hydroxypropan-2-one) production is enhanced in selected aqueous glycerol-acetone mixtures with γ radiation with yields of 1.5 ± 0.2 µmol J−1 and 1.8 ± 0.2 µmol J−1, respectively. This is consistent with the generation of either the stabilized, protonated glycerol cation (CH2OH-CHOH-CH2OH2+ ) from the direct action of glycerol, or the hydronium species, H3O+, via water radiolysis, and their role in the subsequent acid-catalyzed mechanisms for acetol and solketal production. Scaled to a hypothetically compatible range of nuclear facilities in Europe (i.e., contemporary Pressurised Water Reactor designs or spent nuclear fuel stores), we estimate annual solketal production at approximately (1.0 ± 0.1) × 104 t year−1. Given a forecast increase of 5% to 20% v/v% in the renewable proportion of commercial petroleum blends by 2030, nuclear-driven, biomass-derived solketal could contribute towards net-zero emissions targets, combining low-carbon co-generation and co-production.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nuclear-driven production of renewable fuel additives from waste organics

et al. 2021

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“…Although we are only aware of very few examples of commodity organic chemicals produced commercially using radiation, most of them involve the use of radicals like bromine and iodine [39][40][41]. Other organic chemicals, however, are certainly also possible [42][43][44]. Several excellent candidates could be produced through photo-chemical processes using radiation from nuclear reactors.…”

Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Of course, other sources of energy could be used for the same chemistry, but at a different cost, for instance, thermal energy is currently priced in the range of $2 -$10 per GJ, electrochemical energy is $25 -$50/GJ, UV light in the $50 -$500/GJ and gamma rays from cobalt-60 at approximately $900/GJ [44]. The cost of radiation from a nuclear reactor, for this case, is not easy to define, since most of the capital required to capture the offgas, which would act as radiation source, is already considered in the nuclear reactor costing, thus it is assumed that the radiation source adds little to the overall combined heat-chemical process.…”

Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radiation enhanced chemical production: Improving the value proposition of nuclear power

Schmeda‐Lopez

McConnaughy

McFarland

2018

Energy

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Nuclear power is one of the means for large-scale CO 2-free heat and electricity generation. Commercial designs, developed decades ago, have not adopted technological innovations and struggle to be cost-competitive with state-of-the-art fossil-fuel power systems. Though fuel is relatively inexpensive, nuclear power plants are expensive to build and produce only low-value electricity. One strategy to improve the process economics is to use unique characteristics of nuclear reactors to provide additional sources of revenue by co-producing higher value products. A conceptual process is analysed, which combines a molten salt nuclear power reactor and a chemical process using the reactor's gamma radiation to facilitate the production of propylene. This facility is able to co-produce electricity and high volume commodity chemicals using, otherwise wasted radiation. The conceptual process model suggests that integration of units producing an energy product with one that produces more valuable chemicals leads to significant economic benefits for the overall facility. Despite the improvements, the system studied is unable to deliver an acceptable return on investment for small power plants independent of the size of the chemical plant integrated. Conversely, large plants are capable of delivering acceptable return on investment, in some cases generating returns comparable to other modern investment options.

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“…1,2,5 As an option to increase the economic viability of nextgeneration nuclear energy, production of a secondary product, such as a chemical feedstock, would provide an additional product stream and, with that, a secondary source of income. 1,4,6 A second major barrier to advancing nuclear energy production is public perception, and the ability of unused radiation from nuclear reactors to convert recalcitrant, low-value biomass into desirable products may improve public perception of nuclear reactors. 7 Combined with net-zero goals in chemical feedstock production, dual-use nuclear systems for energy and commodity production can have a significant impact on meeting carbon footprint reduction goals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On-Line Raman Measurement of the Radiation-Enhanced Reaction of Cellobiose with Hydrogen Peroxide

et al. 2021

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Production of a chemical feedstock as a secondary product from a commercial nuclear reactor can increase the economic viability of the reactor and enable the deployment of nuclear energy as part of the low-carbon energy grid. Currently, commercial nuclear reactors produce underutilized energy in the form of neutrons and gamma photons. This excess energy can be exploited to drive chemical reactions, increasing the fraction of utilized energy in reactors and providing a valuable secondary product from the reactor. Gamma degradation of cellulosic biomass has been studied previously. However, real-time, on-line monitoring of the breakdown of biomass materials under gamma radiation has not been demonstrated. Here, we demonstrate on-line monitoring of the reaction of cellobiose with hydrogen peroxide under gamma radiation using Raman spectroscopy, providing in situ quantification of organic and inorganic system components.

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A Techno‐Economic Analysis of Chemical Processing with Ionizing Radiation

Cited by 5 publications

References 17 publications

Nuclear-driven production of renewable fuel additives from waste organics

Nuclear-driven production of renewable fuel additives from waste organics

Radiation enhanced chemical production: Improving the value proposition of nuclear power

On-Line Raman Measurement of the Radiation-Enhanced Reaction of Cellobiose with Hydrogen Peroxide

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