Systems, apparatuses and methods of utilizing a Fischer-Tropsch (FT) tail gas purge stream for recycling are disclosed. One or more methods include removing an FT tail gas purge stream from an FT tail gas produced by an FT reactor, treating the FT tail gas purge stream with steam in a water gas shift (WGS) reactor, having a WGS catalyst, to produce a shifted FT purge stream including carbon dioxide and hydrogen, and removing at least a portion of the carbon dioxide from the shifted FT purge stream, producing a carbon dioxide stream and a treated purge stream. Other embodiments are also disclosed.

A hydrocarbon generation system that combines a solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) and a Fischer-Tropsch unit in a single microtubular reactor is described. This system can directly synthesize hydrocarbons from carbon dioxide and water. High temperature co-electrolysis of H.sub.2O and CO.sub.2 and low temperature Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) process are integrated in a single microtubular reactor by designation of a temperature gradient along the axial length of the microtubular reactor. The microtubular reactor can provide direct conversion of CO.sub.2 to hydrocarbons for use as feedstock or energy storage.

Disclosed herein is a method comprising the steps of: a) producing a hydrocarbon stream from syngas via a Fischer-Tropsch reaction, wherein the hydrocarbon stream comprises a first C2 hydrocarbon stream comprising ethane and a first ethylene product; b) separating at least a portion of the first C2 hydrocarbon stream from the hydrocarbon stream; c) separating at least a portion of the first ethylene product from the first C2 hydrocarbon stream, thereby producing a second C2 hydrocarbon stream; d) converting at least a portion of the ethane in the second C2 hydrocarbon stream to a second ethylene product; and e) producing polyethylene from at least a portion of the second ethylene product.

Systems, apparatuses and methods of utilizing a Fischer-Tropsch (FT) tail gas purge stream for recycling are disclosed. One or more methods include removing an FT tail gas purge stream from an FT tail gas produced by an FT reactor, treating the FT tail gas purge stream with steam in a water gas shift (WGS) reactor, having a WGS catalyst, to produce a shifted FT purge stream including carbon dioxide and hydrogen, and removing at least a portion of the carbon dioxide from the shifted FT purge stream, producing a carbon dioxide stream and a treated purge stream. Other embodiments are also disclosed.

A method includes heating a carbon dioxide feed stream in a first heat exchanger using a first cathode effluent from a cathode of an electrolyzer to generate a heated carbon dioxide effluent, heating a first steam feed stream in a second heat exchanger using a second cathode effluent from the cathode of the electrolyzer to generate a first heated steam effluent, heating a second steam feed stream in a third heat exchanger using an anode effluent from an anode of the electrolyzer to generate a second heated steam effluent, combusting, in a combustion unit, a tail gas stream to transfer heat from the combusting to the heated carbon dioxide effluent, the first heated steam effluent and the second heated steam effluent to generate a heated carbon dioxide and steam stream effluent, and passing the heated carbon dioxide and steam stream effluent to the cathode of the electrolyzer.