Advancing the Allam Cycle for Carbon Neutral Synthetic Fuels

Interest in supercritical CO2 cycles has been growing in the field of clean power generation from fossil fuels. Numerous processes have been developed based on oxyfuel combustion, chemical looping combustion, and calcium looping concepts.The Allam cycle, invented by British engineer Rhodney Allam, is a promising oxyfuel combustion based supercritical cycle. It burns a fossil fuel (e.g. natural gas, coal) and generates power at a relatively high efficiency (i.e. 59% for a natural gas fueled cycle) while capturing emissions of CO2 and NOx gases. Following the successful construction and testing of a 25MWe natural gas fired pilot plant in La Porte, Texas, in the late 2010s, the company that develops the technology, NET Power, upscaled the technology to 300 MWe.The Allam cycle produces byproducts water and captured carbon dioxide at elevated pressures, requiring careful management. Initially, the vision was to store the captured CO2 underground or transport it for industrial use, such as the production of urea and methanol. However, these post-capture processes are both economically and environmentally inefficient. An optimized solution would be an integrated process where the byproducts of the Allam cycle are utilized in a co-located downstream plant, which for instance converts CO2 to synthetic fuels.This Research Topic explores cutting-edge advancements in the Allam cycle and its pivotal role in the sustainable production of synthetic fuels, highlighting both recent developments and future directions. This Research Topic aims to pave the way for a more sustainable energy landscape by showcasing advancements that contribute to the transition towards clean and reliable fuel sources.We invite contributions from scientists, engineers, critical thinkers, and entrepreneurs from academia, industry, and governmental research labs.Articles exploring the following themes are within the scope of this collection:• Innovative methods to integrate CO2 conversion processes within the Allam cycle• Designs for enhanced power generation and energy efficiency• Cycles that include on-site CO2 conversion to synthetic fuels, or other useful chemical substances• Economic and environmental impact assessments• Future applications and scalability of integrated cycles• Computational modeling, optimization, and process design for simulation, control, and performance enhancement of Allam based systems. Topic editors: Yousef Haseli, Silvia Ravelli Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/75623/advancing-the-allam-cycle-for-carbon-neutral-synthetic-fuels