Plasma for electrification of chemical industry: a case study on CO₂ reduction

Significant growth of the share of (intermittent) renewable power in the chemical industry is imperative to meet increasingly stricter limits on CO₂ exhaust that are being implemented within Europe. This paper aims to evaluate the potential of a plasma process that converts input CO₂ into a pure stream of CO to aid in renewable energy penetration in this sector. A realistic process design is constructed to serve as a basis for an economical analysis. The manufacturing cost price of CO is estimated at 1.2 kUS$ ton^-1 CO. A sensitivity analysis shows that separation is the dominant cost factor, so that improving conversion is currently more effective to lower the price than e.g. energy efficiency.