Decision making in the methanol production chain A screening tool for exploring alternative production chains

摘要

We have executed a study that explored a variety of carbon-based feedstocks such as natural gas, oil, coal, organic waste streams and renewable resources (biomass) for the production of methanol, in order to find and demonstrate the potential of new, sustainable methanol production routes. We modeled the methanol production chain as an assembly of various independent operations, and we have automated the process of assembling and adjusting the methanol chains. We screened and compared various methanol production chains with respect to key performance indicators and their sensitivity towards various future environmental and economic policies. Our work shows that straightforward modeling of processing chains can contribute significantly to decision making in the methanol chain.