{"id":160863,"date":"2022-08-19T08:03:06","date_gmt":"2022-08-19T08:03:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/synhelion-carburanti-solari\/"},"modified":"2022-08-19T09:16:59","modified_gmt":"2022-08-19T09:16:59","slug":"synhelion-solar-fuels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swissfederalism.ch\/en\/synhelion-solar-fuels\/","title":{"rendered":"Synhelion paves the way for solar fuels"},"content":{"rendered":"

Synhelion paves the way for solar fuels<\/span><\/h1>\n

Synhelion is the first company in the world to succeed in producing syngas on an industrial scale using only solar heat as an energy source.<\/em><\/span><\/h3>\n
\"Synhelion<\/a>
Synhelion produces industrial-scale solar syngas for the first time in the world on the DLR multifocus solar tower. \u00a9 Synhelion<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Swiss solar fuel pioneer successfully demonstrated this on the multifocus solar tower at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) in J\u00fclich, North Rhine-Westphalia<\/span><\/p>\n

The last decisive technical milestone for the industrial production of<\/span> carbon<\/span>–<\/span>neutral<\/span> jet<\/span> fuels has thus been reached.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Synhelion has developed a solar thermal process for the production of synthetic f<\/span>uels that does not<\/strong><\/span> require electricity<\/strong>. The unique technology uses high<\/span>–<\/span>temperature solar heat to produce syngas, which<\/span> is then used in standard industrial processes to synthesize liquid fuels, such as kerosene, gasoline<\/span>,<\/span> or<\/span> diesel, that are compatible wit<\/span>h conventional jet engines and internal combustion engines. Such<\/span> S<\/span>un<\/span>–<\/span>to<\/span>–<\/span>L<\/span>iquid fuel closes the CO<\/span>2<\/span> cycle, as it releases only as much CO<\/span>2<\/span> during its combustion as was<\/span> previously used for its production.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

SWISS to be the world\u2019s first airline to use Synhelion solar fuel<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Syngas produced for the first time using solar heat<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

T<\/span>he Synhelion team was able to successfully produce solar syngas for the first time in the ETH Zurich<\/strong><\/span> laboratory back in 2010. Since then, the challenge has been to scale up the technology to an industrial<\/span> scale: This has now been achieved.<\/span> The cooperation<\/span> with Wood,<\/span> one of the world\u2019s leading providers<\/span> of<\/span> consulting and engineering<\/span> services<\/span> in the fields of<\/span> energy and<\/span> environmental technology<\/span>, has<\/span> significantly accelerated this technical development. Wood supplies<\/span> Synhelion with its<\/span> proprietary<\/span> reforming reactor in which the syngas is produced. Synhelion now powers this reactor exclusively by<\/span> solar process heat. To do this, solar radiation is concentrated by a mirror field onto the solar receiver<\/span> developed by Synhelion in the<\/span> multifocus<\/span> solar tow<\/span>er. The<\/span> tower<\/span> and the<\/span> mirror field<\/span> in J\u00fclich belong<\/span> to the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The precise<\/span> mirror field<\/span> control technology<\/span> was<\/span> developed<\/span> and installed<\/span> by Synhelion Germany. Specifically, a<\/span> 250<\/span>–<\/span>kW<\/span> receiver from Synhelion was coupled with<\/span> a 6<\/span>–<\/span>mete<\/span>r<\/span>–<\/span>high, 12<\/span>–<\/span>ton reforming reactor at the plant. The system has a production capacity of 100<\/span> standard cubic meters<\/span> of syngas per hour. Accordingly, a plant of this size could produce about<\/span> 150<\/span>\u2019<\/span>000 liters of liquid solar fuel per year.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Syngas is a mixture of<\/span> hydrogen and carbon monoxide. The required feedstocks for production are<\/span> water and carbon. Synhelion uses RED II<\/span>–<\/span>certified CO<\/span>2<\/span> and methane from biowaste as a carbon source<\/span> to ensure clean production.<\/span> Converting the feedstocks into liquid fuels requires a l<\/span>ot of energy, which<\/span> must come from renewable sources. Synhelion<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s innovative solar technology enables this process to<\/span> be powered by the sun for the first time.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The mirror field concentrates solar radiation on the DLR’s multifocus solar tower (right), where Synhelion’s solar receiver is well illuminated \u00a9 Synhelion \u00a9 Synhelion<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Next step: production of solar kerosene<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

With the successful production of syngas on an industria<\/span>l scale, Synhelion has reached a key milestone<\/span> in scaling up the<\/span> S<\/span>un<\/span>–<\/span>to<\/span>–<\/span>L<\/span>iquid technology.<\/span> <\/strong>As a next step, Synhelion is now building the world<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s first<\/span> industrial<\/span>–<\/span>scale solar fuel plant, also in J\u00fclich, which will demonstrate the entire process from<\/span> concentrated sunlight to liquid fuels on an industrial scale. This plant is being implemented as part of<\/span> the SolarFuels project, which is funded by th<\/span>e German<\/span> Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and<\/span> Climate Action<\/span> (BMWK). The plant is expected to be<\/span> commissioned<\/span> as early as 2023<\/span>,<\/span> and<\/span> Swiss <\/span>International Air Lines<\/span> will be the<\/span> first<\/span> airline<\/span> to use<\/span> the solar kerosene<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>Philipp Good<\/strong>, CTO of Synhelion, com<\/span>ments:<\/span> \u201c<\/span>By successfully producing solar syngas, we have made<\/span> the dream of turning sunlight into fuel<\/span> ready<\/span> for industrial use.<\/span> The last major technical milestone in<\/span> scaling our technology has been achieved. Now the way is paved for the industrial productio<\/span>n of <\/span>carbon<\/span>–<\/span>neutral jet fuels, which we plan to start next year in J\u00fclich<\/span>.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Close-up<\/a>
Close-up of Synhelion’s proprietary solar receiver, which provides the process heat needed to produce solar fuels. \u00a9 Synhelion<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

About Synhelion<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

Synhelion is a global pioneer in the field of carbon<\/strong><\/span>–<\/span><\/strong>neutral solar fuels<\/strong>. The clean energy company<\/span> evolved from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich)<\/strong> in 2016 to decarbonize aviation.<\/span>
Industrial solar fuel production will start in Germany i<\/span>n 2023. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The first commercial production facility is<\/span> planned for commissioning in Spain by 2025. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Synhelion is the first company to sustainably generate<\/span> process heat beyond 1\u2019500\u00b0C with concentrated solar radiation. This makes it possible to drive<\/span> industrial<\/span> processes such as fuel production and cement manufacturing with solar heat for the first<\/span> time. The company provides the world with cutting<\/span>–<\/span>edge technology to solve the climate crisis and<\/span> works with international partners such as Eni, CEMEX, Lufthansa Grou<\/span>p, SMS group, Wood,<\/span> AMAG<\/span> Group,<\/span> and Zurich Airport.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Source: Synhelion<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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