INL researchers pioneer synthetic fuels and plastics process

A team of Idaho National Laboratory researchers has pioneered an easier way to make plastics.

The electrochemical process could eliminate the need for high-energy steam cracking. Since the early 20th century, everything from gasoline and diesel fuel to plastics has been made by cracking complex hydrocarbon molecules found in oil, coal, and natural gas with tremendous amounts of heat and pressure.

The new process creates synthetic fuels and plastics that uses 65 percent less energy and produces up to 98 percent less carbon dioxide.

INL researcher Dr. Dong Ding said the research is driven by the shale gas revolution which has provided a plentiful supply of natural gas at historically low prices, and he says the declining cost of electricity has made electrochemical refining more economically feasible.

Theoretically, if the process were powered by a renewable source and the captured hydrogen was incorporated info fuel cells, there would be a net gain in process energy. Altogether, that could cut the carbon footprint down to 2 percent of traditional production methods.

The project is one of 24 being funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.