Innovative system for e-fuel synthesis
Green transport at your fingertips? Thanks to a project by PhD students from the Warsaw University of Technology, it is possible.
The young researchers used the well-known method of producing liquid fuels in a Fisher-Tropsch reactor. They decided to integrate it thermodynamically with high-temperature co-electrolysis (Molten Carbonate Electrolysis) using water and carbon dioxide. This is how Hyflow was developed – a system concept for the production of green fuels. An additional advantage of the solution is that the entire process runs in a closed circuit.
– We have developed an innovative system that captures and uses emissions, minimising waste and maximising the overall efficiency of the process – describes Aliaksandr Martsinchyk – the creator of the solution and the leader of the team that develops it.
With their project, the PW PhD students are supporting the development of low-emission energy sources. This is important in the context of climate change.
– The problem is the high emissions of fossil fuels in cars – emphasises Aliaksandr Martsinchyk. – Our idea can solve the problem of keeping cars with internal combustion engines on the roads in the European Union after 2035.
After that time, these engines must run on either synthetic or zero-emission fuels.
A team consisting of Aliaksandr Martsinchyk, MSc, Katsiaryna Martsinchyk, MSc, Pavel Shuhayeu, MSc, Monika Lazor and Arkadiusz Baran, MSc, is working on Hyflow. The idea is being developed at the Faculty of Power and Aeronautical Engineering - at the Institute of Heat Engineering and with the participation of the Centre for Hydrogen Technology.
The team assumes further intensive research and development work. It plans to submit two patent applications and one scientific article in the near future.
– By 2024, we want to build the first proof-of-concept prototype – says Aliaksandr Martsinchyk. – The project concept will then be developed with the support of the National Research and Development Centre, the National Science Centre and other R&D grant organisations. Together with commercial partners, we will be able to implement the idea and build pilot installations.
Hyflow took third place in the Tech-Athon – a programme of work on technological solutions with implementation potential, aimed at doctoral students from the Warsaw University of Technology. The creators of the idea received PLN 60 000 for further development of the project.