Development of a modular approach for the simulation of power-to-X processes

Abstract

Currently, the 2020 goal of a 35 % renewable energy share in the electricity mix has alreadybeen accomplished, however, the transport sector goal of a 10 % renewable energy share remainsfar from being reached with a 5.2 % share in the year 2017.In order to overcome this problem, theLehrstuhl für Energiesysteme(LES) participates in theprojectE2Fuels. The aim of the project is to use renewable excess energy to produce syntheticfuels, so that these can be used in the transport sector or can be stored for a later use in theelectricity sector. In order to do so, Power-to-X processes need to be optimized, so that theybecome cost competitive. Therefore, a modular approach for the simulation of Power-to-Xprocesses has been developed in this thesis.First, a literature review on Power-to-X technologies, chemical process simulation software,typical process units and convergence methods has been done. A linear model developer toolhas been created, which can be used to generate a linear model of the Aspen simulation blocks.The most important process components of Power-to-X Processes have been implemented. Aset of thermodynamic properties functions have been designed to compute the simulation unitssubroutines. Next, a flowsheet simulation tool allowing an easier connection of the simulationunits, especially if recycle streams are present in the flowsheet, has been developed. Finally, acomparison of the simulation results on the example of the TREMP process shows that themass balances of the system are perfectly computed, however the energy balances deviate forblocks with composition changes, such as reactors.In order to correct this error and proceed with the optimization of Power-to-X processes, othermathematical tools for thermodynamic properties must be used. Finally, the implementation ofartificial intelligence algorithms to simulate and modify chemical processes could be implemented,using the developed modular approach as the basis