CAU-10-H: Synthesis Scale-Up at the Pilot Scale, Techno-Economic Analysis, and Application in a Full-Scale Cooling...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science and Engineering
• Chemical Engineering
• Sustainable Chemistry

Background:

• Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) show promise for addressing global challenges like energy consumption for cooling and water scarcity.
• High-performance MOFs such as CAU-10-H, Al-MIL-160, and MOF-303 are crucial for these applications.
• Sustainable and cost-effective large-scale production is essential for MOF commercialization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To achieve green, low-cost, multikilogram scale-up of the CAU-10-H MOF.
• To conduct a techno-economic analysis for estimating production costs at a 1 kilotonne scale.
• To evaluate the performance of CAU-10-H in adsorption cooling applications.

Main Methods:

• Pilot-scale batch reactor synthesis of CAU-10-H, achieving 27.5 kg of dry MOF.
• Techno-economic analysis based on scale-up results to project 1 kt production costs.
• Optimization of reaction conditions, including solvent recycling and increased concentration, in a 10 L scale reactor.
• Measurement of water adsorption capacities and rates for CAU-10-H coatings.
• Adsorption chiller simulations to compare CAU-10-H performance against existing materials.

Main Results:

• Successful multikilogram scale-up of CAU-10-H with a space-time yield (STY) of 99 kg m^-3 d^-1.
• Projected production cost of 13.8 ± 2.8 $ kg^-1 at a 1 kt scale, with linker costs identified as the primary driver.
• Optimized conditions achieved a projected STY exceeding 400 kg m^-3 d^-1, reducing costs to 12.1 ± 2.4 $ kg^-1.
• CAU-10-H demonstrated superior water adsorption performance for adsorption cooling.
• Simulations indicated a 3x improvement over silica gel and 2x over SAPO-34 for air conditioning and engine heat-driven cooling.

Conclusions:

• Green and cost-effective multikilogram scale-up of CAU-10-H is feasible.
• Optimized production processes can significantly lower MOF costs and improve STY.
• CAU-10-H shows significant potential as a high-performance material for adsorption cooling technologies.