conferences 2014 ucgsa iii venue: glen hove...

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CONTACT DETAILS FOR CONFERENCE EVENT ENQUIRIES

For conference information contact Michelle Stegen, RCA Conference Organisers, +27 11 483 1861/2, [email protected]

INDUSTRIAL COURSES 2014

Carbon Capture & Storage 1 – 5 September

Coal Management & Marketing 3 – 7 November

CONTACT DETAILS FOR COURSE ENQUIRIES Technical enquiries: Professor Rosemary Falcon +27 11 717 7387 [email protected] Administration enquiries: Mrs Maggie Blair +27 11 717 7387 [email protected]

Industrial (non-academic) enquiries: Mrs Lesley Stephenson +27 83 679 0697 [email protected]

CONFERENCES 2014

Underground Coal Gasification – UCGSA III Venue: Glen Hove Conferencing, Melrose, Johannesburg, Gauteng

28 August

3rd Waterberg Workshop Venue: The Mogol Club, Lephalale, Limpopo

15 October Field Trip: 16 October

Southern Africa Electricity II Venue: Glen Hove Conferencing, Melrose, Johannesburg, Gauteng

30 October

20th Energy Workshop Venue: UCT, Leslie Social Sciences Building, Western Cape

27 & 28 November

Annual Awards Banquet Venue: Johannesburg Country Club, Auckland Park, Gauteng

24 October

mailto:[email protected]




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SESSION 1 Tony Surridge, SANEDI

Dr Surridge was born and educated in New Zealand. During the 1980s, he was engaged by the South African CSIR working at the Atmospheric Research Group. From November 1993 to November 2006, Dr Surridge was engaged by the Department of Minerals and Energy, first as a Deputy Director and then from April 1995 as a Director. During this period he has been responsible for matters related to electricity, renewable energy, environment, energy efficiency, energy database, coal and gas and petroleum. He drafted South Africa’s first National Integrated Energy Plan, inter alia drafted four pieces of legislation, negotiated a number of international agreements, and represented South Africa at numerous international gatherings including the Kyoto Protocol negotiations and served on numerous committees and working groups. Since December 2006, Dr Surridge is Senior Manager- Advanced

Fossil Fuel Use at the then newly formed South African National Energy Research Institute – now called the South African National Energy Development Institute SANEDI. During 2009, he established and is currently the Head of the South Africa Centre for Carbon Capture and Storage, a division of SANEDI. ABSTRACT

SANEDI ENERGY: FOSSIL FUELS AND SOLAR POTENTIAL

The South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI) was established by the National

Energy Act, 2008 (No 34) as a successor to the previous South African National Energy Research

Institute (Pty) Ltd (SANERI) and the National Energy Efficiency Agency (NEEA) (a division of CEF

(Pty) Ltd). SANEDI is a Schedule 3A Public Entity as of 31 December 2010, operationalised on 1

April 2011. Its mandate is to serve as a catalyst for sustainable energy innovation, transformation and

technology diffusion in support of South Africa’s sustainable development. The country is

demonstrating its commitment to a more sustainable future growth path by supporting renewable

energy and energy efficiency measures, together with skills development and job creation through

fostering a green economy. South Africa is among the highest emitters of carbon dioxide in the world,

currently ranked 12th in terms of top emitters per capita, since more than 75% of primary our energy

requirement is derived from fossil fuels. The country responded to the urgent need to reduce fossil

fuel dependency, diversify the energy mix and supply and reducing the country’s carbon footprint with

a supportive policy and legislative framework to exploit the excellent renewable energy resources,

especially wind and solar. South Africa’s renewable energy sector experienced explosive growth in

the past few years with investment of more than $5.5 billion in 2012, up from $30 million in 2011-

representing an impressive increase of 20,500%. The rapid investment growth over the past two

years made South Africa the ninth-leading destination for clean energy investment among the Group

of 20(G-20) of the world’s developed and emerging economies. Solar technology combined with

current fossil fuel usage opens the door to compatible technology hybridisation allowing for a wide

range of potential applications in the solar-fossil-fuel nexus.

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Vikesh Rajpaul, Eskom

Vikesh Rajpaul is currently Program Manager – Concentrating Solar Power at Eskom’s Renewables Business Unit in South Africa. He is registered with the Engineering Council of South Africa as a professional engineer, and has an MBA from the University of Natal. He started his career in Eskom as an engineer in training in 1994, and has held various senior technical management roles within Eskom over the last 20 years. Given the strategic importance of Concentrating Solar Power in Eskom, he was tasked to lead the development of Eskom’s 100 MW CSP project in 2010. As programme manager for CSP, Vikesh has end to end accountability for all CSP initiatives within Eskom. He is also Eskom’s representative on the executive committee of Sastela and represents South Africa at the SolarPACES exco. ABSTRACT ESKOM’S WORK IN CSP There are a myriad of examples within the South African policy environment that support the utilisation of renewable energy sources in the country as an integral means of reducing carbon footprint, diversifying the national economy, and reducing poverty. Eskom, as a state owned entity and a responsible corporate citizen, supports the drivers for low carbon growth and diversification of the energy mix, as documented in its six point plan for addressing climate change and its strategic imperative of reducing its environmental footprint and pursuing a low-carbon growth path. In order to support the achievement of these strategic objectives, Eskom established a Renewables Unit with a mandate to drive Eskom’s renewables generation capacity by developing and operating proven technologies and becoming a centre of excellence for renewables business initiatives. Solar Thermal (CSP), is one of four programmes / portfolios within the Renewable Unit, responsible for developing, constructing and operating new CSP generating capacity as well as solar augmentation for own consumption. Augmenting existing fossil power plants with solar thermal energy provides a viable opportunity for energy diversification, as it involves incorporating free solar energy into the steam cycle of a conventional rankine cycle power plant, to reduce the amount of coal used or to boost the plant output for a given coal supply. This reduces the absolute station emissions for a fixed load or the net emissions when solar energy is used to boost the energy output of the station. In addition, solar energy provides opportunity to produce energy carriers such as liquid fuels, syngas and hydrogen as well as in the production of chemical or material commodities such as metals, lime or cement. In this regard, Eskom Research has formed partnerships and sponsored various studies to investigate how solar energy can be used to reduce the country’s environmental footprint while reducing the demand associated with energy intensive industries. The discussion will focus on Eskom’s work in CSP, specifically on solar augmentation, and will cover some of the partnerships entered into to explore opportunities of using solar energy to produce energy carriers.

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SESSION 2 Jose Barak, BrightSource Energy

45 years in conventional power market and 30 years in concentrated solar power market. Project Engineering, Project Management, Business Development and Corporate Management in 3 continents (Europe, America, Asia). Engineering degree in thermal power design and Master degree in power policy.

ABSTRACT SOLAR TECHNOLOGY SELECTION AND COST OF SOLAR FUEL IN HYBRID POWER PLANTS 1. Introduction The respective costs of coal and solar inputs to a hybrid power plant can be compared by calculating fuel costs at the steam generator for each fuel and technology option. In the case of central tower solar thermal technology, the technology option generally regarded as the lowest-cost approach for future standalone solar electricity projects turns out to be a considerably more expensive best option for hybrid projects. 2. Inputs to solar fuel cost In the case of coal, the cost of the fuel itself is by far the most important input to any comparison with solar. The capital cost of a coal-fired power plant is heavily dominated by the cost of the boiler, power block and electrical infrastructure, which are all common to both conventional and solar inputs and therefore can be ignored when making the comparison. On the solar side, on the other hand, the cost of the ‘solar fuel’ heat input to the steam generator consists mostly of amortization of the capital cost of the solar energy collection system – which can include the heliostat field and, if applicable, intermediate systems for capturing and storing heat in a working fluid other than steam. The amortization is directly affected by the project site selection, as annual irradiance values can vary from site to site – selecting a good site is akin to locking in low solar fuel costs for the life of the project. While there are O&M costs for maintaining the cleanliness of the mirrors, there are no variable costs for purchasing fuels. Currently, two competing tower technologies vie for primacy in the solar electricity market: direct-steam generation receivers, and molten-salt receivers. Molten-salt receivers, although not yet proven commercially at utility scale, are considered to be the lower-cost approach for standalone solar operation because of built-in integration of thermal energy storage. A working fluid comprising a mixture of molten salts is heated by concentrated solar radiation and directed to a storage tank, and the heated fluid can later be used to generate steam in a salt-steam heat exchanger. Direct-steam receivers, where the tower-based steam generator uses concentrated sunlight as the sole heat input, are already in operation in 3 commercial tower plants of about 130MW each in California. In this study we will compare the cost of solar fuel inputs with coal in South Africa for both solar tower technology options and for a range of annual solar irradiance values. The better-proven direct-steam option yields a solar fuel cost per MJ that is less than half of the

corresponding cost for molten-salt technology. The difference is due to the capital costs of (a) the

tower-based molten-salt receiver where the salts are heated from insolation, (b) the high-temperature

tanks to accommodate storage of both the cold (290°C) and hot (560°C) salts (and associated piping),

and (c) the salts themselves.

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Tony Meier, Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Switzerland

Dr Anton Meier is Deputy Head of the Solar Technology Laboratory at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Switzerland. He is the Operating Agent for Task II (Solar Chemistry Research) of the SolarPACES Program, and Coordinator of the Sub-Programme on Solar Fuels of the EERA (European Energy Research Alliance) CSP Joint Programme. He has a Diploma in Physics (equiv. to MSc Phys.) from ETH Zurich and earned his Ph.D. in 1988 at the University of Bern in Switzerland. In 1990 he joined PSI, where he is active in the field of thermochemical high-temperature processes for the production of solar fuels and energy-intensive materials. He has experience as project manager of international solar chemical research projects – such as the European integrated research project STAGE-STE (work package on solar fuels) or the partially industrially funded project on “Solar Production of

Lime” (solar calcination of CaCO3 to CaO). He has (co-) authored over 30 research articles in refereed scientific journals, 9 book chapters, and 2 patent applications. Christian Sattler, German Aerospace Center - DLR

Dr. Christian Sattler studied Chemistry at the University of Bonn, Germany. He is head of the Department of Solar Chemical Engineering of the German Aerospace Center’s Institute of Solar Research. A key area of his work is the production of fuels especially hydrogen by solar thermo- and photochemical processes. Dr. Sattler serves as vice president of the research association N.ERGHY a member of the European Joint Technology Initiative for Fuel Cells and Hydrogen. He is the national representative to tasks of the IEA’s SolarPACES Implementing Agreement. Dr. Sattler is an active member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, where he served as a member of the Executive Committee of the

Solar Energy Division for six years. He published over 300 papers – including 87 refereed journal papers, 13 patents and eight book chapters. ABSTRACT GENERAL OVERVIEW AND BACKGROUND OF HTSA (SOLARPACES) Collaboration with other international organizations (besides SolarPACES). The presentation gives an overview on other international and national initiatives on high temperature solar fuel production besides SolarPACES their history and strategies. It also shows ways how to take part and contribute to some of the initiatives. Solar Thermal Electricity & Solar Thermochemical Fuels: A general overview is given on the production of solar thermal electricity (STE) and solar thermochemical fuels (STF) using concentrated solar energy. After a short introduction on SolarPACES, technologies for concentrating solar thermal power plants (Trough, Fresnel, Tower, and Dish) are presented and examples of commercial concentrating solar power (CSP) plants are shown. Thermal energy storage and R&D efforts for cost reduction are discussed. Then, technologies for high temperature solar thermochemical processes for the production of solar fuels and materials are introduced. The various pathways to solar fuels (H2, syngas, and liquid hydrocarbon fuels) are presented, namely solar thermochemical cycles (examples: sulfur-based, ferrites, Zn/ZnO, ceria-based, etc.) as well as solar coal and gas conversion processes (reforming, cracking, and gasification). The presentation concludes with an outlook on the long-term potential of STE and STF.

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SESSION 3 Dmitri Bessarabov, HySA Center at North-West University

The Director of HySA Infrastructure, Dr Dmitri Bessarabov, was recruited for the position from Canada 2010. He obtained his Master’s degree in Chemistry in Moscow and in 1996 his doctoral degree at the University of Stellenbosch before leaving for Canada to do research on, amongst others, fuel cells and hydrogen energy. He holds SA NRF rating, published more than 100 publications and a number of international patents. He has academic and industrial decision-making experience in the area of hydrogen and electro-catalytic membrane systems for energy applications with over fifteen years of progressively increasing responsibility in academic and industrial R&D environment, leadership and managerial roles. Worked for Kvaerner Group, Ballard Power Systems and AFCC in Canada. Current

responsibilities include: Leadership in the National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Programme (HySA). Providing excellence in management, research and product development. HySA Infrastructure Business Plan development and implementation. Supply-chain and business development, engagement of industry into development activities. ABSTRACT HYSA INFRASTRUCTURE CENTER OF COMPETENCE: A STRATEGIC COLLABORATION PLATFORM FOR SOLAR TO HYDROGEN PRODUCTION AND STORAGE The Department of Science and Technology of South Africa developed the National Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Technologies (HFCT) Research, Development and Innovation Strategy. The National Strategy was branded Hydrogen South Africa (HySA). The scope of the Hydrogen Infrastructure Competency Centre (HySA Infrastructure CoC, [1]) is to develop applications and solutions for small- and medium-scale hydrogen production and storage through innovative research and development. The aim of this paper is to present an overview of the HySA Infrastructure CoC projects related to renewable hydrogen and fuel cell applications. The presentation will discuss how the HySA Infrastructure could assist South African and international stake holders in the area of renewable (e.g., solar) energy with providing a potential strategic platform for developing and testing various renewable energy solutions for fuel cell applications specific to African conditions. [1]. D. Bessarabov, F. van Niekerk, F. van der Merwe, Manie Vosloo, Brian North, Mkhulu Mathe, “Hydrogen Infrastructure within HySA National Program in South Africa: road map and specific needs,” Energy Procedia, no 29, pp. 42 – 52, 2012

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Tony Meier, Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Switzerland


Lime” (solar calcination of CaCO3 to CaO). He has (co-) authored over 30 research articles in refereed scientific journals, 9 book chapters, and 2 patent applications. Christian Sattler, German Aerospace Center - DLR

Dr. Christian Sattler studied Chemistry at the University of Bonn, Germany. He is head of the Department of Solar Chemical Engineering of the German Aerospace Center’s Institute of Solar Research. A key area of his work is the production of fuels especially hydrogen by solar thermo- and photochemical processes. Dr. Sattler serves as vice president of the research association N.ERGHY a member of the European Joint Technology Initiative for Fuel Cells and Hydrogen. He is the national representative to tasks of the IEA’s SolarPACES Implementing Agreement. Dr. Sattler is an active member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, where he served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Solar Energy Division for six years.

He published over 300 papers – including 87 refereed journal papers, 13 patents and eight book chapters. ABSTRACT SOLAR COAL AND GAS CONVERSION Solar Methane Cracking and Reforming: Using concentrated solar radiation to heat up traditional chemical process is the straight forward way to introduce such technologies into industrial applications. Therefore solar steam reforming of methane has been tested on solar towers since at least 1989. After a time of rather low activities in the 1990s and early 2000s it is now the most developed high temperature solar process available and probably the first one to be scaled-up into an industrial pilot plant. Solar cracking is much more challenging because of the very high temperatures needed. However it has some advantages that are studied to find ways how to use it. Solar Gasification of Carbonaceous Feedstock: Solar steam gasification of coal and other carbonaceous materials is an attractive industrial process to produce high-quality synthesis gas (syngas). Ultimately, solar gasification offers an efficient means of storing intermittent solar energy in transportable and dispatchable chemical form. Since no portion of the feedstock is combusted for providing process heat, the energy content of the feedstock is upgraded by up to 33% through the solar energy input equal to the enthalpy change of the chemical reaction. The syngas product can be used as a combustion fuel, e.g. for cement kilns or in IGCC plants for power generation, or further processed to H2 or liquid hydrocarbon fuels. The solar thermochemical reactor technology for steam gasification of carbonaceous feedstock has been experimentally demonstrated within two exemplary industrial projects: (1) SYNPET at 500 kWth using petroleum coke (petcoke) and (2) SOLSYN at 150 kWth using coal, biomass, and C-containing waste materials.

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ABSTRACT SOLAR CHEMICALS & MATERIALS Mineral processing & chemical production Solar production of aluminum There is a high potential in providing high temperature solar heat to other chemical manufacturing processes like recycling of light metals or the treatment of minerals which will be presented and discussed. Solar Production of Lime and Cement: Lime and cement manufacturing are energy-intensive processes that proceed at temperatures above 1200–1600 K. The principal component of lime, or quicklime, is calcium oxide (CaO), which is produced by the thermal dissociation of limestone, a naturally occurring mineral that consists mainly of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). Replacing fossil fuels with concentrated solar energy to drive the calcination reaction can reduce by 20% the CO2 emissions in a state-of-the-art lime plant and by 40% in a conventional cement plant. The technical feasibility of a solar rotary multi-tube kiln prototype was demonstrated, and an economic assessment for an industrial solar calcination plant indicated that the solar production of high purity lime might be an economically viable path for reducing CO2 emissions in specific market sectors of the lime and cement industry.

SESSION 4 Mansoor Parker, ENSafrica

Mansoor Parker is an executive at ENSafrica in the tax department. He

specialises in corporate tax, energy tax, sports tax, as well as the tax aspects of

mergers and acquisitions and corporate restructurings.

Mansoor has advised clients on the tax treatment of mergers and acquisition

transactions (including taxable and tax-deferred transactions); infrastructure

development projects, the availability and applicability of fiscal and cash

incentives (offered by the Department of Trade and Industry) for investment in

South Africa, cross-border tax from the perspective of both foreign inward

investment into South Africa and domestic outward investment from South

Africa, major sports events including the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 and the

2010 FIFA World Cup South AfricaTM. Mansoor also advises on compliance with

applicable exchange control regulations.

He is a member of the International Bar Association and the South African Fiscal Association.

SESSION 5 Tony Meier, Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Switzerland


Lime” (solar calcination of CaCO3 to CaO). He has (co-) authored over 30 research articles in refereed scientific journals, 9 book chapters, and 2 patent applications.

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Christian Sattler, German Aerospace Center - DLR

Dr. Christian Sattler studied Chemistry at the University of Bonn, Germany. He is head of the Department of Solar Chemical Engineering of the German Aerospace Center’s Institute of Solar Research. A key area of his work is the production of fuels especially hydrogen by solar thermo- and photochemical processes. Dr. Sattler serves as vice president of the research association N.ERGHY a member of the European Joint Technology Initiative for Fuel Cells and Hydrogen. He is the national representative to tasks of the IEA’s SolarPACES Implementing Agreement. Dr. Sattler is an active member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, where he served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Solar Energy Division for six years.

He published over 300 papers – including 87 refereed journal papers, 13 patents and eight book chapters. ABSTRACT THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSING & STORAGE Sulfur, Ferrites, and related materials for fuel production and for thermal and thermochemical heat storage High temperature redox cycles can be either used to split water or CO2 for fuel production or to bind and release oxygen for heat storage. An overview will be given how these processes are connected what is the present development status and what are the perspectives. Future Solar Fuels – H2, Syngas, and Liquid Hydrocarbons: Solar thermochemical cycles based on metal oxide redox reactions can split H2O and CO2 to produce H2 and CO (syngas), the precursors to the catalytic synthesis of conventional liquid fuels for the transportation sector. When coupled to the direct capture of CO2 from atmospheric air, the solar cycle becomes a carbon-neutral source of hydrocarbon fuels. Among a variety of redox materials investigated for use in thermochemical cycles, the Zn/ZnO redox cycle has been identified as a promising route due to its potential of reaching high solar-to-fuel energy conversion efficiency. Following the technical demonstration with a 10 kWth solar reactor prototype, a 100 kWth solar pilot plant has been designed, fabricated, and experimentally tested at a large-scale solar concentrating facility.

ABSTRACT INTEGRATED MODELING AND SYSTEM ANALYSES Modeling of integrated systems, Systems analyses An important part for preparing the market for high temperature solar processes is to evaluate possibilities on a theoretical level. So the pros and cons can be described and ways to a successful introduction of the different technologies can be described. The talk will give an overview on aspects that are decisive to use concentrated solar radiation economically successful. And discuss some examples.

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SESSION 6 Shankara Radhakrishnan, University of Pretoria

Dr.Shankara Gayathri Radhakrishnan completed her under- and post

graduate studies in India (affiliated to Madras University) with distinctions and

with Best Outgoing Student Award and Gold Medal respectively. Following

this she completed her doctoral research work in the year 2006 with Werner

Prize for the Best Thesis culminating in 7 research publications including her

best work published in Chemical Communiations where highest ever

rectification ratios for fullerene based system was reported. After the doctoral

research, she obtained the most prestigious Alexander von Humboldt

Fellowship and worked with the world renowned physical-organic chemist,

Prof. Dirk M Guldi, from 2007 - 2009 for two years. Following this she

continued her post-doctoral research work in the same group until October 2010. During this period,

she published 13 research articles. In 2012 she was appointed as a senior assistant professor at the

SASTRA University, Thanjavur, India and continued here research work along with teaching under

Physical Chemistry division. During this she continued her research work on supramolecules in 2D in

collaboration with research groups in PSG Institute for Advanced Studies, Coimbatore, India, with

supervising an M.Tech research Project. In November 2013, she was appointed as a full-time

research fellow at the University of Pretoria South Africa under the energy project, ‘Liquid Solar Fuels

from CO2’ where the conversion of CO2 to Methanol is planned. Along with this she is continuing her

research in the supramolecules at 2D.

ABSTRACT

AN ELECTROCHEMICAL ROUTE TO LIQUID SOLAR FUEL FROM CARBON DIOXIDE

Shankara Radhakrishnan, Emil Roduner and Egmont Rohwer

Chemistry Department, University of Pretoria

The only realistic option to store energy in the huge amounts required to cope with peak power

requirements and with day-night cycles is in the form of chemical energy. From the view point of

gravimetric energy density, hydrogen is by far the best option. However, it has the disadvantage that it

is a gas and therefore more difficult to store than liquid fuels, and in particular it is inconvenient to

transport for use in mobile applications, while there is an existing infrastructure for storage and

transport of liquid fuels.

Hydrogen can be produced in straightforward processes and in large amounts from coal by

gasification, or from water by electrolysis. There are also processes to hydrogenate carbon dioxide

using often copper-containing heterogeneous catalysts, but this has not been a success story.

Alternative routes aim at mimicking nature and produce liquid fuels in a complex process called

artificial synthesis. Here, in order to keep complexity in bounds, we propose a low temperature

electrochemical route of methanol production which avoids the intermediate production of gas phase

hydrogen. It resembles an inverted direct methanol fuel cell and uses electricity from photovoltaic or

other green sources to electrolyze water in the presence of CO2 at the cathode which is equipped with

a suitable catalyst. The process resembles that of an inverted direct methanol fuel cell (see Figure).

While the anode process of water oxidation is well established and operates with platinum group

metals, there is at this point no cathode catalyst that is sufficiently efficient and selective for large

scale application. Fundamental research on the issue is therefore required before a process is

available that can be scaled up to match the demands of industrial applications. The concept of the

planned research and of a technical solution at large power plants will be sketched.

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Philip Crouse, University of Pretoria

Professor Crouse studied chemistry up to master’s level at the University of Cape Town, and obtained his PhD in physical chemistry at the University of Pretoria. He has 20 years’ industrial experience, working across disciplines in the materials-processing and nuclear industries. He spent seven years at the University of Manchester in the Advanced Manufacturing Division of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, focusing on laser materials processing, before taking up his current position as SARChI Chair for Fluoro-materials Science and Process Integration at the University of Pretoria. His research activities include:

• The development of a fluoro-polymer capability South Africa, with the focus on polytetrafluoroethylene, fluorinated ethylene-propylene, and ethylene-polytetraethylene; • Dry fluorination of inorganic materials, and surface modification; • Modelling of fluorine cells; • Fluoride-based minerals processing technologies; • Plasma processing. ABSTRACT LIQUID SOLAR FUEL FROM CARBON DIOXIDE

Egmont Rohwer a), Emil Roduner a), Philip Crouse,b) Salmon Lubbe b)

a) Chemistry Department, University of Pretoria b) Fluoro-Materials Group, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Pretoria

Southern Africa has enormous untapped renewable energy supplies of sunlight (on par with the best

in the world, in large, low-populated areas) and the Agulhas sea current (a flow of 70 million cubic

metres per second, first estimates indicating that it could produce a continuous 40 GWatt of electricity

— our present SA grid capacity). Not only could we in 20-40 years' time be totally independent of

fossil fuel, we could arguably be an exporter of renewable energy, provided we could store and

internationally ship energy in the form of a liquid fuel such as methanol, diesel or petrol, derived from

CO2 to achieve carbon neutrality. It seems conversion of electric to chemical energy could be

achieved with 70% efficiency (similar to the present day hydro-pumping, gravitational potential energy

strategies.)

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With sufficient sources of renewable energy in the world, the problem reduces to the development of

technologies to store and transport energy in large amounts, probably more than we could ever store

in batteries or super-capacitors. It seems carbon-neutral chemical-energy storage is the only answer.

However, the hydrogen economy proposed 40 years ago has not matured because of the difficulty in

storing and transporting H2. Methanol, by contrast, could be pumped and transported by road, rail and

sea making use of present infrastructure. The same applies of course to hydrocarbons such as petrol

and diesel derived from CO2. Methanol can be directly used in internal combustion engines or

turbines and also in fuel cells for direct (high efficiency) conversion to electricity, even on micro-scale

as for example the powering of portable electronic equipment and laptop-computers.

The most promising technologies for production of methanol and/or syn-gas from a CO2 feed, are

inverted fuel cells. At low temperatures these electrolytic cells employ proton exchange membranes

(PEM), typically Nafion, coated with an applicable catalytic material to achieve conversion. At high

temperatures solid oxides are central to the design. Here yttrium-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) is the

preferred material. Investment by both the University of Pretoria and the Department of Science and

Technology has made a programme to develop the technology possible. Technical details, with

emphasis on the local production of YSZ and Nafion-like membranes (i.e. sulfonated

tetrafluoroethylene-based co-polymers), are discussed.

Thomas Roos, CSIR

Thomas Roos is a Principal Research Engineer at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research or CSIR. He holds a Masters of Mechanical Engineering from the University of Stellenbosch in the turbomachinery field, and is registered for a PhD at the same university, focusing on developing a high temperature volumetric receiver for a hybrid fossil fuel/concentrated solar heat-fired gas turbine power station. His research career at CSIR has been predominantly in the field of turbomachinery, gas turbine aerodynamics, thermodynamics and heat transfer. His activities in concentrating solar power (CSP) date from 2001

when he began exploring combining CSP and gas turbines. He spent three years being the CSIR Energy Research Impact Area Strategy champion. As part of his PhD studies he has built two target-aligned heliostats (one 1.25m2 and the other 25m2), equipment to measure the flux intensity distribution in the heliostat focal spot, and together with a fellow student, a high temperature thermal storage research rig. As part of CSIR work, he took part in the design of a concentrating solar research facility at CSIR in Pretoria with a 100kW (electric) gas turbine and a 500kW (thermal) heliostat field. SolarPACES (Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems) is an Implementing Agreement of the International Energy Agency. Except for 2013, he has attended every SolarPACES conference since 2006, giving oral and poster presentations there in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Since 2008, he has represented South Africa annually at two SolarPACES task meetings: Task II Solar Chemistry Research, and Task VI Solar Energy & Water Processes and Applications. He has presented at ISES Solar World Congress conferences in 2007 and 2009, and authored and co-authored 5 papers at the 1st South African Solar Energy Conference in Stellenbosch in May last year. In the past two years he has participated in the Solar Energy Technology Road Map process jointly chaired by the departments of Science and Technology and Energy, where he chairs the High Temperature Solar Applications group. In the presentation he will give at this conference, he will describe a value proposition for the solar dry reforming of methane for PetroSA, in the process consuming CO2 from Eskom coal-fired power stations, to produce 50% carbon-neutral liquid fuel for SAA.

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ABSTRACT A GTL MARKET FOR CAPTURED CO2: SUNSHINE AND CO2 REDUCES NATURAL GAS CONSUMPTION IN FUEL PRODUCTION AND PRODUCES 50% CARBON-NEUTRAL FUEL Three South African state-owned companies face different challenges in the medium-term: 1) Eskom is South Africa’s largest CO2 emitter (at 220 million tonnes per year), so the introduction of the South African carbon tax will place pressure on electricity tariffs going forward. 2) PetroSA converts natural gas into liquid fuel using the Fischer-Tropsch gas-to-liquids (GTL) process. Apart from carbon tax implications (PeroSA emits 2.2 million tonnes CO2 per year, a more pressing issue is that the gas is becoming depleted in the gasfields that PetroSA exploits, requiring the building of a capital intensive natural gas terminal. 3) SAA is under pressure to reduce its carbon footprint, driven largely by the carbon tax that the EU wishes to impose on commercial airliners. The carbon tax is payable for the duration of the flight, not just the portion of the flight over European airspace. This unfairly penalises airliners with hubs distant from the EU (SAA, QANTAS, etc) compared to those with hubs close to the EU (Emirates, Etihad, Qatar airlines), which may lead to the former losing market share to the latter and becoming regional players instead of global players. The only current option for commercial aerospace to reduce their carbon footprint is to switch to carbon-neutral fuels, which currently means biofuels. South Africa used 2 367 million litres of jet fuel in 2012. This presentation explores the possibility of: 1) using CO2 captured from Eskom power stations (reducing net emissions), 2) to “dry” reform methane to syngas at PetroSA using concentrated solar heat (reducing methane consumption by half for the same amount of syngas produced) to produce liquid fuel, 3) which is 50% carbon-neutral (allowing SAA to greatly reduce new downstream emissions and therefore reduce carbon taxes liabilities.

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