Processes for Emission-free Energy Supply

   

The course „Processes for emission-free power supply“ covers advanced and innovate processes and concepts for a prospective emission-free energy supply. This course replaces the former seminar “modern processes in power plants”.

Starting point of the lecture is the current state of the “Energiewende” in Germany as well as the global role of emissions (especially CO2) from power systems. Considering the required emission reduction of energy supply systems in the future, alternative energy carriers are presented and their role in future energy systems is discussed comprehensively.

Main focus of this course is the synthesis, compression or liquefaction, transport, storage and end use of hydrogen as most promising zero-emission energy vector of future energy supply systems. An additional benefit of hydrogen is its potential for long-term and high capacity storage of (excess) renewable electricity in the form of chemical energy. Throughout this part of the lecture, system and process-related aspects are discussed in detail. Hereby, special emphasis is put on the safe handling of hydrogen.

The second main pillar of the course is the synthesis of CO2-neutral energy carriers. Within this part of the lecture, the process-based principles provided in the beginning of the lecture are used. Consequently, a deeper understanding of the synthesis process of CO2-neutral energy carriers such as synthetic natural gas or methanol among others is gained. Moreover, this part covers system-related aspects. In a next step, advanced technologies for the use of such synthesis products are presented. Hereby, conventional energy conversion systems such as gas turbines and gas motors are compared with fuel cells which are on the rise to commercialization. Special focus is set on the different application areas, conversion efficiencies and power ranges of each technology.

The third main pillar of the course is the role of CO2 in power supply systems. Taking global climate goals into consideration, potential CO2 reduction measures for conventional power supply systems are discussed as they will play an important role during the transition towards an entirely emission-free energy system. Therefore, processes and systems for CO2 sequestration, compression, transport and storage are discussed in detail. Finally, the use of CO2-based power cycles, i.e. in heat pumps for heat supply or in supercritical Brayton cycles for power generation, is elucidated.

The course ends with an overview of emission-free integrated systems. This chapter covers the approaches to modelling and design of integrated systems. Moreover, integrated systems already in operation or in demonstration state are presented and discussed.

The course language is German.