Turning CO/CO₂-containing industrial process gas into valuable building blocks for the polyurethane industry

Abstract

Provided is a concept of how the carbon content of CO/CO2-containing blast furnace gas (BFG) from steel production could be utilized in a sequence of selective chemical conversion steps to produce high value intermediates for the polymer industry.

Chain end-group selectivity using an organometallic Al(iii)/K(i) ring-opening copolymerization catalyst delivers high molar mass, monodisperse polyesters

“…23 So far, most catalysts produce low molar mass polyesters, useful as polyols or in surfactant applications. [24][25][26][27] Accessing highly active and tolerant catalysts that produce high molar mass polyesters, with controlled distributions, remains challenging. Whilst a few catalysts can produce high molar mass polyesters, those products typically have bi-or multi-modal molar mass distributions (Fig.…”

Preferential Oxidation of H2in CO-Rich Streams over a Ni/γ-Al2O3Catalyst: An Experimental and First-Principles Microkinetic Study

“…The selective removal of H 2 from CO-rich gas streams is another technically challenging and scientifically interesting application of PROX. This can be applied to blast furnace gas (BFG), an economically favorable CO/CO 2 -rich process gas from steel production, as a first step before its upgrading to high-value intermediates for the polymer industry. − The residual amounts of H 2 (1–8 vol %) in these streams entail a technical and safety challenge for the upgrading of CO and CO 2 to polyether-ester polyols and polyether-carbonate polyols, respectively. , Carbon-rich industrial flue gases provide an alternative feedstock that contributes to the concept of carbon circularity, encouraging industrial symbiosis practices. ,, The removal of H 2 can be done via physical separation or via a catalytic process. Physical separation, such as membrane or cryogenic separation, is expensive and energy-intensive, while the rWGS is thermodynamically limited, even at high temperatures.…”

“…Moreover, methanation of CO-rich streams is challenging as metal-based catalysts deactivate rapidly due to carbon formation and poisoning of active sites. , Thus, PROX provides an alternative that is not thermodynamically limited and can be performed under mild conditions. This simplifies the overall process scheme and energy requirements as the upgrading of CO/CO 2 to sustainable polyols is performed at low-to-mild temperatures, below 200 °C …”

Upcycling the carbon emissions from the steel industry into chemicals using three metal oxide loops

“…To tackle this issue, we propose a chemical looping process that can make use of the chemical energy in the blast furnace gas to create a CO/CO 2 stream suitable for the production of chemicals such as polyols used in polyurethane production or synthetic fuels. [8][9][10] Chemical looping is an emerging technology that provides, among other advantages, inherent separation of reaction products. 11,12 Compared to the steady-state rWGS catalytic reaction, using chemical looping can overcome equilibrium limitations, 13 improve heat management of the process, and fully exploit the chemical energy available in the steel mill gases to produce a CO/CO 2 stream.…”

“…To tackle this issue, we propose a chemical looping process that can make use of the chemical energy in the blast furnace gas to create a CO/CO 2 stream suitable for the production of chemicals such as polyols used in polyurethane production or synthetic fuels. 8–10…”