Muhaimin Iqbal
Author

CO2-Driven Methanol Economy

Advanced Renewable

Tue , 14 May 2024 04:12 WIB

When we can change our perception of CO2 emissions, from seeing them as a source of problems to become resources, then one by one colossal products will be born from this CO2, methanol production is one of them.

The need for methanol is very large, so far the sources have been natural gas, coal and also petroleum. However, these traditional sources, apart from being increasingly scarce, is also increasingly expensive, not all countries or regions have it, while the need continues to grow. One of the biggest needs for methanol in Indonesia is for biodiesel production, because around 25% of the biodiesel material comes from methanol.

Methanol is currently being looked at as a future fuel using fuel cell technologies, both Reformed Methanol Fuel Cells (RMFC) and Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFC), and also advanced combustion engine. In fact, one of the world's largest shipping lines has announced that its new ships will also use methanol as fuel.

A very interesting development from research and studies at the Advanced Renewable Organization (ARO), among others, is that methanol can now be produced economically from CO2 emissions. The driver is our previous technology, namely low cost biohydrogen production which we have uploaded here (https://lnkd.in/gw6FrCD5).

What's more interesting is that the hydrogen used to produce methanol from CO2 does not need to be purified first, because the crucial hydrogen production is in the purification, when it doesn't have to be purified - the production costs become even cheaper. From the three reaction series that I have included in the picture below, we will be able to see the three raw materials for producing methanol, namely CO2, CO and H2.

The last two, CO and H2, are in syngas, while CO2 can come from carbon capture. However, the syngas that can be used as a companion raw materials for CO2 in methanol production is syngas that has been upgraded in such a way that the combination of these three materials can reach a Stoichiometric Number (SN) > 2. This number can be achieved easily using a Biohyd reactor in my previous upload above.

How economical is methanol produced in this way? Can it compete with methanol from fossils? Every 1 ton of CO2 can produce around 350-500 kg of methanol. Because the net reaction is exothermic, there is still waste heat which, when converted to electricity, will produce around 100 kWh. The cost of producing methanol in this way is around US$ 0.19/ltr or around US$ 0.24/kg, which should be very competitive with that from fossil fuels.

Because this methanol is produced from CO2 and syngas from biomass whose sources are everywhere, it has other advantages, in addition to eliminating CO2 emissions, this methanol can be produced in-situ or where it is needed . Apart from reducing transportation costs, it also reduces the carbon footprint further. Greener economy will grow with this regenerative methanol, a methanol produced from CO2 emissions!