Technoeconomic and Emissions Analysis of the Hybrid Redox Process for the Production of Acetic Acid with CO₂ Utilization

The production of oxygenated hydrocarbons, such as acetic acid, using captured CO2 is a promising pathway to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the chemical industry. The use of a chemical looping-based hybrid redox process (HRP) is proposed to convert CO2 and natural gas into separate CO and syngas streams that can be used to produce various commodity oxygenates, while allowing the beneficial utilization of captured CO2 . Here, a detailed technoeconomic analysis of HRP applied to the production of acetic acid is presented. Emissions and energy analyses show the ability of HRP to lower the CO2 emissions for acetic acid synthesis by 74% compared to a conventional steam and autothermal reforming route. HRP also offers a potential 34% reduction in capital costs. Compared to a dry reforming based acetic acid production route, HRP has the potential for significantly lower costs. If integrated with a low carbon energy source, HRP has the potential to achieve a negative emission of greenhouse gas (-0.50 kg CO2 per kg acetic acid).