Pre-project power production with CCU by non-equilibrium plasma cracking of natural gas

The aim of this pilot project has been to explore the potential of GasPla’s cold plasma technology for commercially competitive production of power, heat and carbon with long-term storage. GasPlas plasma reactor can produce hydrogen and carbon from natural gas and other hydrocarbon gases. With this production setup, energy can be produced from natural gas with low greenhouse gas emissions, by using the hydrogen for energy production and the carbon for other uses with permanent storage.

GasPlas calls this concept carbon capture and use (CCU), with reference to carbon capture and storage (CCS). Instead of storing large amounts of carbon dioxide underground, solid carbon has a number of uses such as in soil improvement products, in building materials and advanced carbon materials. These can replace alternative production chains with their resource use and emissions.

Considered an electricity-producing power plant, the electrical energy efficiency is quite low (typically in the range of 10-20%). Considered as a power and heat system with solid carbon as a by-product (tri-generation), both overall energy efficiency and profitability appear to be quite high. The future profitability of GasPlas CCU will largely depend on the relationship between the price level for natural gas and the market price for carbon. Thus, future applications of the carbon and the associated carbon price will be crucial for profitable commercialization of GasPla’s CCU concepts.