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The Politecnico di Milano coordinates a consortium of nine partners from four European countries, which will work together on the four-year project PYSOLO (PYrolysis of biomass by concentrated SOLar pOwer), funded by the European Commission with approximately 5 million euros, in the framework of the Horizon Europe programme. Researchers from our Department of Energy, led by Prof. Marco Binotti, will be involved in the project.
The aim is to develop an innovative process that combines the concentrated solar radiation and the biomass pyrolysis in order to obtain bio-oil with negative CO2 emissions, contributing to the decarbonization and defossilization of the chemical industry and the transport sector.
The pyrolysis gas and biochar will not be burned to provide heat to the pyrolysis reactor, as happens in the conventional pyrolysis processes, but they will be additional useful products that can be used for both energy and non-energy purposes, such as the synthesis of biofuels for the transport sector and agricultural use (char can be used as fertilizer). A significant innovation in the PYSOLO technology is the ability to operate in different modes, making the process flexible and capable of both producing and absorbing electrical energy from the grid.
The ENCASE project, “A European Network of Research Infrastructures for CO2 Transport and Injection”, funded by the research programme Horizon Europe, has got started in Oslo.
The partnership which will carry out the project over the course of 3 and a half years, co-ordinated by the Norwegian research centre IFE, includes 20 partners (from 6 European countries), among which is the Politecnico di Milano, represented by Manuele Gatti (Principal Investigator), Stefano Consonni, Antonio Conversano and Nima Razmjoo.
We are proud to represent POLIMI in this consortium, in which we will collaborate with universities, research centres and companies of international standing and with considerable experience in the capture and storage of CO2
The main aims of the project include: the scientific and technological advancement and improvement of 7 research infrastructures at the highest level in the international arena as regards the capture and storage of CO2 (CCS); the development of new thermodynamic methods and models to support research in the field of CCS, the generation of new experimental data and the training of specialised personnel in the sector.
Starting from new experimental data made available in the project, POLIMI will develop models relating to thermophysical properties of CO2 mixtures, such as phase equilibria, density, specific heats, viscosity, etc.
In addition, POLIMI will provide scientific supervision for the experimental activities that will be carried out at the research infrastructure of the LEAP laboratory in Piacenza (also a project partner).
Finally, at the end of the project, POLIMI will organize a Summer School for researchers and PhD students on the topic of thermophysical properties of fluids for energy and CCS uses.
This research project will allow us to develop new knowledge in the CCS sector, which can be used both for application, with the transfer of research results to the industrial sphere, and for education, in order to train engineers and doctoral students in those technical-scientific skills that are becoming increasingly relevant to the needs of institutions and industry (not only of companies working in the field of CCS, but also of companies with a strong focus on innovation and energy transition).
The project “ECCSELLENT – Development of ECCSEL – R.I. ItaLian facilities: usEr access, services and loNg-Term sustainability” aims to strengthen Italian research facilities in the field of carbon dioxide capture, utilisation, transport and storage.
This is a particularly important topic with regard to the efforts to mitigate climate change: alongside improving energy efficiency and harnessing renewable energy sources, CCUS (CO2 Capture, Utilisation and Storage) technologies have also been identified as a strategic measure with a view to reducing carbon emissions.
For three years, the ECCSELLENT project, which has been created as part of the European ECCSELL network, will be responsible for developing new technologies and research infrastructure in the field of CCUS, while simultaneously encouraging access to and enhancing the services and sustainability of the laboratories in the network that already operate within the CCUS sector, making it possible to reinforce scientific excellence and providing the national research system with the tools necessary to promote the decarbonisation of industry, one of society’s biggest challenges.
ECCSELLENT will be financed by 16.5 million euros from the Ministry of Universities and Research as part of NRRP Mission 4 “Education and Research” – Next Generation EU. The partners, coordinated by the National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics – OGS, are the University of Bologna, the Politecnico di Milano (in partnership with LEAP, the research centre founded by the Politecnico di Milano which operates in the energy-environment sector), ENEA and the National Research Council of Italy (CNR).
Thanks to this important project, the Politecnico di Milano will be equipped with a mobile experimental system for carrying out applied research activity relating to CO2 capture processes which are crucial for the decarbonisation of hard-to-abate industry sectors,
Manuele Gatti and Matteo Carmelo Romano, professors at the Politecnico’s Department of Energy
Politecnico di Milano is a partner in CO2OLHEAT – Supercritical CO2 power cycles demonstration in Operational environment Locally valorising industrial Waste Heat, a research project funded by the European Union as part of the Horizon 2020 programme with a total budget of 18.8 million euros.
The aim of the project is to support the EU objectives relating to energy efficiency and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by recovering waste heat from industrial processes and converting it into electricity via an energy system based on innovative closed thermodynamic cycles using carbon dioxide in supercritical conditions (sCO2).
This four-year project will lead to construction of the EU’s first sCO2 energy plant, which will be installed and operate in the CEMEX cement works, in Prachovice in the Czech Republic.
The Politecnico di Milano research group, headed by Professor Giacomo Persico, will provide a multi-disciplinary contribution to the project, systematising the competences of the Laboratory of Fluid-Dynamics of Turbomachinery (LFM) with those of the Group for Energy Conversion Systems (GECOS) in the Department of Energy. On the fluid dynamics front, research with focus on shape optimisation of the sCO2 compressor, the most critical component of the system, and on high-fidelity analysis of performance and function of the compressor itself and the high-pressure turbine. On the energy front, studies will concentrate on analysis of the system’s thermodynamic behaviour, under both project and non-project conditions.
A new study by Politecnico di Milano into the thermo-catalytic activation of CO2 is the cover story of the latest edition of the Catalysis Science and Technology journal by the Royal Society of Chemistry.
The article explains the work carried out by Professor Matteo Maestri’s team of the Catalysis and Catalytic Processes Laboratory of the Energy Department.
The document highlights how recycling carbon dioxide by reducing with hydrogen from renewable sources plays an important role in energy transition, to avoid accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere and to make it possible to synthesise high-energy-density fuels produced using renewable energy.
Catalysis is fundamental in this process. This review article attempts to fill in the gaps on this question, gathering and rationalising state-of-the-art literature, analysing and suggesting orientation and future challenges regarding the aspects of the catalytic mechanism and multiscale analyses from catalyser to reactor solutions.
The research project Desarc-Maresanus is carried out by Politecnico di Milano and by Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici (Euro-Mediterranean Climate Change Centre) with the support of Amundi, in partnership with CO2APPS.
Desarc-Maresanus studied an alkalinisation process to combat two environmental problems of great significance at the same time: the increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere, and the resulting acidification of the oceans.
The process consists of disseminating calcium hydroxide on the ocean surface. Combining with water through a spontaneous reaction, it increases sea water’s capacity to act as a buffer against acidity, thus preventing a drop in pH levels. This favours removal of CO2 from the atmosphere.
The study conducted a detailed technical and economic feasibility study of this process, its environmental balance, and benefits for the marine sector, with focus on the Mediterranean.
Prof. Stefano Caserini, Professor of Climate Change Mitigation at Politecnico di Milano and Project Leader for the research, explains:
The results achieved are reassuring that CO2 can be removed from the atmosphere at reasonable costs, also providing a solution to the great issue of ocean acidification. More studies are required, both concerning the technological process and interactions with the environment, but these early results are promising.
The Desarc-Maresanus research has achieved some important results.
The study of models has revealed that dissemination of calcium hydroxide on the ocean surface would prevent the Mediterranean’s acidification trend; the calcium hydroxide released binds water and CO2 through a spontaneous process, which increases sea water’s capacity to act as a buffer against acidity, thus impeding the drop in pH.
The study conducted with fluid dynamics modelling confirmed the high dispersion rate of calcium hydroxide, when it is released in the wake of a ship, thus suggesting the possibility of spreading large amounts of it by either exploiting existing ships or by creating dedicated vessels; calcium hydroxide released in the form of liquid suspension dissolves as a result of the considerable turbulence in the wake of a ship.
Several scenarios have been studied for the dissemination of calcium hydroxide in the Mediterranean, with various types of ships, and the dissemination potential was also evaluated in a global scale, based on data on existing maritime traffic; dissemination on the part of existing ships seems to be the most efficient solution.
Innovative systems have been studied to store CO2, which must not be released into the atmosphere, as alternative solutions to traditional geological storage, evaluating the feasibility of the various options, including underwater storage in the form of bicarbonates or in glass capsules; detailed simulations have been carried out on the latter to evaluate their mechanical resistance; conditions that might make the various options more or less advantageous, based on the local context, were discussed, besides the additional research required to guarantee that the potential environmental impact will be reduced to a minimum.
Various methods are available to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, and the estimated costs of the new process studied are in line with the high prices of CO2 on the carbon market expected for the coming decades.
The evaluations made using life-cycle assessment (LCA) methodology show that a number of process variants are possible, which can use various types of fuels, with a different range of benefits, criticalities, and technological challenges that must be tackled in the future.
The time is right to propose something really ambitious to combat climate change and acidification of the oceans. The reassuring results of this project come at the most propitious time, precisely when we are entering the decisive decade for dealing with these epoch-making challenges, and when the European Union is also proposing strong, concrete mitigating strategies.
says Prof. Mario Grosso, Scientific Coordinator for Research at the Politecnico di Milano.
For the first time two new studies, carried out as part of the Desarc-Maresanus project and published on Frontiers in Climate, develop the idea of ocean alkalinisation on the base of a technically feasible pathway of implementation providing a first step towards a real-world application.
The first study, realized with the financial support of Amundi and the collaboration of CO2APPS, presents an analysis of marine alkalinization applied to the Mediterranean Sea taking into consideration the regional characteristics of the basin. Researchers used a set of simulations of alkalinization based on current shipping routes to quantitatively assess the alkalinization efficiency via a coupled physical-biogeochemical high-resolution model.
In the second study, researchers realized an estimate of the potential of maritime transport for ocean liming, highlighting a very high potential discharge of slaked lime in the sea by using the existing global commercial fleet of bulk carrier and container ships. For some closed basins, such as the Mediterranean Sea where traffic density is relatively high, the potential of ocean alkalinization is far higher than what is needed for counteracting ocean acidification.
These two publications provide a key contribution to the international and national scientific and technical communities working to find solutions to these two issues – atmospheric CO2 removal and counteracting ocean acidification – which we will have to tackle in the future. Even if further investigations are needed, these results are encouraging.
stated Caserini.
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