{"id":38343,"date":"2024-03-26T16:41:59","date_gmt":"2024-03-26T16:41:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alicat.com\/?post_type=article&p=38343"},"modified":"2026-01-26T20:45:37","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T20:45:37","slug":"umwandlung-von-co2-in-ethanol-fluss","status":"publish","type":"support","link":"https:\/\/www.alicat.com\/de\/support\/converting-co2-to-ethanol-flow\/","title":{"rendered":"Umwandlung von CO2 in Ethanolfluss"},"content":{"rendered":"\n[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_heading title=”Converting CO2 to ethanol flow” _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_heading][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]

CO2<\/sub> is considered the primary fossil fuel emission related to global warming for many different manufacturing and chemical applications. As a result, there is much research to develop more efficient methods to reduce CO2<\/sub> emissions through means of carbon capture, sequestration, and conversion.<\/p>\n

In contrast, ethanol is a well-known inebriant, disinfectant, and energy source. In fact, roughly 10%<\/a> of modern gasoline fuel blends contain ethanol primarily derived from corn biomass. Due to these reasons, ethanol is inherently valuable, trading for about $1000 per ton with a global market size of $75 billion per year.<\/p>\n

In 2020, researchers developed a highly energy efficient, low variable cost, carbon-neutral or carbon-negative, electrochemical process for converting CO2<\/sub><\/a> directly into ethanol. As most of the modern ethanol supply originates from biomass, mass adoption of CO2<\/sub> conversion as an alternative ethanol production technique will help to lower alcohol and food costs while concurrently reducing CO2<\/sub>\u2019s impact on global warming.<\/p>\n

Below we will describe how this conversion works in depth as well as how Alicat\u2019s mass flow controllers can be used to optimize the process.<\/p>\n

Electrocatalytic CO2<\/sub> reduction to ethanol<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The CO2 <\/sub>reduction reaction pathway<\/h3>\n

Electrocatalytic CO2<\/sub> reduction using different electrocatalysts made from semiconductors with suitable band alignments or compatible metal and semiconductor nanoparticles produces a series of valuable fuels<\/a> and chemicals under visible light irradiation. By changing the configuration of semiconductors and metals used, different chemicals are produced. Notably, copper catalysts create various types of end products, including a wide range of valuable hydrocarbons and oxygenates.<\/p>\n

In some configurations, these reactions occur in an electrolysis cell and in others they occur in an\u00a0 electrolytic medium between an anode and cathode. In some system designs, the CO2<\/sub> is sparged with deionized water to humidify it before electrolysis, ensuring more even power generation to keep the system more healthy.<\/p>\n

When using copper catalysts, by controlling for variables such as electrolyte pH, electrode potential, molecular additives, and electrolyte cation design, the activity and selectivity of the CO2<\/sub>RR pathway can be customized to produce different end products such as ethylene (C2<\/sub>H4<\/sub>), ethanol (C2<\/sub>H5<\/sub>OH), and propanol (C3<\/sub>H7<\/sub>OH).<\/p>\n

A 91% FE CO2 <\/sub>to ethanol conversion process\u00a0\u00a0<\/sub><\/h3>\n

A highly efficient CO2<\/sub> to ethanol<\/a> process was developed by Argonne National Laboratory\u2019s Center for Nanoscale Materials and APS. Their process used carbon-supported copper catalysts to achieve a low power, low cost, CO2<\/sub> to ethanol pathway with an FE of 91% at just \u22120.7\u2009V potential (versus the reversible hydrogen electrode) with an onset potential as low as \u22120.4\u2009V (reversible hydrogen electrode).<\/p>\n

In this configuration, pure CO2 <\/sub>was added into a 6.8 PH electrochemical cell containing a catalyst-coated graphene sheet made of special single atom carbon-supported copper electrocatalysts acting as the working electrode, an Ag\/AgCl reference electrode, and a platinum wire counter electrode. A 0.1 M KHCO3<\/sub> solution acted as the electrolyte. Constant CO2<\/sub> flow was maintained throughout the test at 30 standard cubic centimeters per minute (sccm) for 4,000 seconds.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.alicat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/CO2-to-ethanol.webp” title_text=”CO2-to-ethanol” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”20px|20px|20px|20px|false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]

CO2<\/sub> electrolysis flow control using Alicat devices<\/h3>\nAlicat\u2019s MC-Series<\/a> of mass flow controllers are designed to optimize the flow of CO2<\/sub><\/a> by maintaining repeatable and accurate data and control across a large range of flow rates in addition to constantly monitoring operating pressure and temperature, allowing for more precise electrochemical cell operation and testing conditions.\n