Electrochemical_Manufacturing_HERD_Mastropasqua

We decarbonize industrial manufacturing via electrochemical processes

Electrochemical Manufacturing

Heavy industries such as steel, cement, plastic, glass, petrochemicals, and fertilizers manufacturing do not have viable and economical solutions for their sustainable and decarbonized future. In fact, electrification alone is not enough to convert all our production processes to a renewable alternative. And the reason is primarily twofold:

  1. Manufacturing processes need molecules as feedstock, not just energy. We need to decarbonize the feedstock to decarbonize industry
  2. The industrial sector generally needs heat. Heat must be decarbonized to address all emission from our industrial processes

We think that electrochemical systems will play a major role in decarbonizing the industrial and manufacturing sectors. In fact, electrochemical systems are extremely scalable, they can produce high-purity products with highly-selective processes, and they can be easily integrated with the renewable electric and gas grid. For these reasons, we study how to use electrochemical devices to convert low-value or waste streams into commodities and bulk chemicals.

Electrochemical_synthesis_HERD_Mastropasqua

We study the use of proton and oxygen ion conducting ceramics for electrochemical reduction and conversion of low value raw materials for production of high-value products used in the manufacturing and chemical sectors.

We are tackling the worldwide problem of plastic pollution by conceptualizing and developing direct electrochemical routes to depolymerize plastics and concurrently producing useful and low-carbon products and fuels. We are developing proton conducting membrane reactors that exploit the co-ionic conductivity features of barium zirconates materials to ensure the stability, manufacturability, and high reaction yield for hydrogenation or hydrogenolysis reactions.

Electrochemical smelting of metal ores (electrowinning) would allow a substantial reduction of carbon emissions from the metals production sector.  We conceptualize a solid state ceramic oxide reactor that will be able to perform electrowinning of metal oxides with renewable energy sources. This concept requires numerous novelties to be developed and constitutes a high-risk high-reward application.

We study eutectic mixtures of molten salt electrolytes to achieve electrochemical lime production. Lime production is one of the largest fractions of CO2 emissions in the cement industry. Therefore, we envision an electrochemical pathway to thermally integrate electrochemical lime production into existing cement plants.

We advance these concepts via numerous interdisciplinary collaborations with material science and chemical engineering colleagues. Electrochemical reactors are always designed for integration into larger systems for commercial scale-up.

Electrochemical systems that can be integrated into existing industrial manufacturing processes allow a conversion of the current carbon-intense production processes to alternatives powered by renewable energy vectors.

HySteel_HERD_Mastropasqua

We are studying how to use Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells (SOEC) to produce renewable hydrogen and thermally integrate the electrolysis module into a Direct Reduction Iron (DRI) plant for renewable steel production. Such system can replace current natural gas-based DRI and coal-based integrated cycle steel mills (Blast Furnace – Basic Oxygen Furnace cycles).HySteel_Layout_HERD_Mastropasqua

The integration of high temperature electrolysis also allows the utilization of the thermal power output of the industrial or manufacturing process, increasing the efficiency of the hydrogen generation step.

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