Low carbon liquid fuels such as Sustainable Aviation Fuel (e-SAF) and Renewable Methanol (e-Methanol) are vital for decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors such as aviation, shipping and heavy industry. e-SAF can significantly reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to conventional jet fuel and can be used in existing aircraft engines with minimal modifications. e-methanol can be produced from renewable electricity, CO2 captured from industrial processes or directly from air, and water. It serves as a versatile solution for reducing emissions in sector where electrification is not possible. E-methanol can be used as a chemical feedstock, a marine fuel, an intermediate for synthetic fuels , a potential precursor for SAF and an energy carrier that can use existing liquid-fuel infrastructure, effectively closing the carbon loop by utilizing CO2 and reducing reliance on fossil fuels. Both e-SAF and e-Methanol are drop-in fuels and are crucial for transitioning to a sustainable energy system. Unlike ammonia and hydrogen, they can be used directly thus offer practical pathways for emission reductions in hard-to-abate sectors while leveraging existing infrastructure and technologies. SHINE 3.0 refers to Solar Harvesting for Integrated New Energy, a pilot-scale integrated solar-to-fuel system developed by UNSW Chemical Engineering/PartCat. Its purpose is to demonstrate production of e-methanol from captured CO2 and renewable H2, with the energy required for the process supplied by solar energy.
The core reaction is: CO2 + 3H2 → CH3OH + H2O
It is a Power-to-X System where it combined integrated architecture where solar energy is used to drive the water electrolysis to produce the H2 feedstock and also use solar energy as source of light and heat to convert CO2 to methanol through thermal catalysis without reliance on external grid energy, closing the carbon loop of e-methanol production. In this project, the student will work alongside Senior Principal Process Engineer and experienced researcher to validate performance of modified SHINE 3.0 using commercial catalyst under various operational conditions including different catalyst loading to optimize methanol production rate and understand the transition from bench-scale to pilot-scale operation.
School
Chemical Engineering
Research Area
Thermocatalysis | Renewable energy systems | Process engineering
Suitable for recognition of Work Integrated Learning (industrial training)?
Yes
- Research environment
- Expected outcomes
- Supervisory team
- Reference material/links
This project provides the opportunity for practical research and engineering work in a state-of-the-art catalysis research group laboratory with particularly focus on evaluation of Power-to-X technologies.
- The appointed student will work with Senior Principal Process Engineer, researcher and industry partner to operate SHINE reactor system and evaluate its performance through series of reaction testing. The outcomes of this project will contribute to refining experimental protocols for pilot scale liquid fuel synthesis and generating data for peer-reviewed publications.
