An Opportunity for Methanol; The Production Starting From Goal

摘要

The Chemical Industry is facing a difficult challenge: how to deal with natural gas supply security and price volatility. Solid Gasification is a promising answer to these needs: it is a commercially proven technology, available for the production of chemicals from coal and petcoke. A case study is developed in the paper in order to depict a possible technical alternative for Methanol production based on a feedstock that is available and abundant in the world; production of Methanol from coal gasification. Methanol is considered either a final product or an intermediate for production, through Methanol to Olefins step (MTO), of the required petrochemical products. The technical alternative, based on oxygen blown entrained bed gasification, is sized to produce 5000 t/day of Methanol. Overall performance and investment costs are evaluated and discussed through a sensitivity analysis on cost of coal. The plant design offered includes two exclusive advanced technologies, the first being the CASALE axial-radial sour shift design and the latter being the CASALE methanol synthesis section and 'IMC methanol converter designs. Through these technologies it is possible to render plants more efficient and reliable.