Techno-economic analysis and life cycle analysis of e-fuel production using nuclear energy

Electrofuels, or e-fuels, are synthetic liquid hydrocarbon fuels which may be produced using carbon dioxide (CO2) and low carbon hydrogen (H2) as feedstock. They are of great interest because they have much lower carbon intensity compared to the conventional petroleum fuels and can utilize the existing fuel infrastructure owing to their ability to blend with or replace existing fuels. We modeled an e-fuel production process to produce low carbon jet, diesel, and naphtha using a reverse water gas shift process to produce synthesis gas, followed by a Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis process. Nuclear energy is considered for e-fuel production due to its steady energy supply, near-zero carbon emissions, capability to produce hydrogen with high efficiency via high temperature electrolysis, and proximity to biogenic CO2 sources from nearby corn-ethanol plants in the United States. The modeled FT process achieved a high carbon conversion ratio of 99% by recycling CO2 and the use of oxy-combustion, and a process energy efficiency of approximately 70%. The life cycle greenhouse gases emissions are estimated to be 7 and −25 gCO2e/MJ, without and with steam coproduct credit, respectively, by using the Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Technologies (GREET®) model. Additionally, the process economics were evaluated for three scales corresponding to nuclear power plant capacities of 100, 400, and 1000 MWe, estimating a minimum fuel selling price (MFSP) of $3.61/gal ($0.95/L), $2.82/gal ($0.74/L), and $2.66/gal ($0.70/L) of FT fuel mix, respectively, by considering $3/kg of H2 tax credit prescribed in the recent Inflation Reduction Act.