Carlo N. Hamelinck

(currently working with Ecofys b. v. Utrecht,

The Netherlands)

Andrn P. C. Faaij

(Utrecht University, Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development and Innovation, Utrecht, The Netherlands)

CONTENTS

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 8

Technology……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 9

Overview……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 9

Pretreatment………………………………………………………………………………………….. 9

Gasification…………………………………………………………………………………………. 10

IGT Gasifier……………………………………………………………………………….. 10

BCL Gasifier……………………………………………………………………………… 12

Oxygen Supply………………………………………………………………………….. 13

Gas Cleaning and Contaminant Limits………………………………………………. 13

Raw Gas versus System Requirements……………………………………… 13

Tar Removal……………………………………………………………………………… 15

Wet Gas Cleaning………………………………………………………………………. 17

Dry/Hot Gas Cleaning……………………………………………………………….. 19

Gas Conditioning………………………………………………………………………………… 20

Reforming………………………………………………………………………………….. 20

Water Gas Shift…………………………………………………………………………. 22

CO2 Removal…………………………………………………………………………….. 23

Methanol Synthesis…………………………………………………………………………….. 25

Fixed-Bed Technology………………………………………………………………. 26

Liquid-Phase Methanol Production…………………………………………… 27

Options for Synergy………………………………………………………………………………………… 28

Electricity Cogeneration by Combined Cycle…………………………………….. 28

Natural Gas Cofiring/Cofeeding…………………………………………………………. 29

Black Liquor Gasification…………………………………………………………………… 29

Other Biofuels via Gasification…………………………………………………………… 30

Hydrogen…………………………………………………………………………………… 30

Fischer-Tropsch (FT) Diesel……………………………………………………….. 30

Methanol to Diesel…………………………………………………………………….. 31

Methanol to Gasoline………………………………………………………………… 31

Dimethyl Ether (DME)……………………………………………………………….. 31

Techno-Economic Performance……………………………………………………………………… 32

Selection of Concepts…………………………………………………………………………. 32

Modeling Mass and Energy Balances………………………………………………… 33

Costing Method………………………………………………………………………………….. 36

Results………………………………………………………………………………………………… 37

Conclusions……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 44

References……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 45

INTRODUCTION

Methanol (CH3OH), also known as methyl alcohol or wood alcohol, is the sim­plest alcohol. It can be used as a fuel, either as a blend with gasoline in internal combustion engines[2] or in fuel cell vehicles.[3] Also, methanol has a versatile function in the chemical industry as the starting material for many chemicals.

Methanol is produced naturally in the anaerobic metabolism of many varieties of bacteria and in some vegetation. Pure methanol was first isolated in 1661 by Robert Boyle by distillation of boxwood. In 1834, the French chemists Dumas and Peligot determined its elemental composition. In 1922, BASF developed a process to convert synthesis gas (a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen) into methanol. This process used a zinc oxide/chromium oxide catalyst and required extremely vigorous conditions: pressures ranging from 300-1000 bar, and temperatures of about 400°C. Modern methanol production has been made more efficient through the use of catalysts capable of operating at lower pressures. Also the synthesis gas is at present mostly produced from natural gas rather than from coal.

In 2005, the global methanol production capacity was about 40 Mtonne/year, the actual production or demand was about 32 Mtonne (Methanol Institute 2005). Since the early 1980s, larger plants using new efficient low-pressure technologies are replacing less efficient small facilities. In 1984, more than three quarters of
world methanol capacity was located in the traditional markets of North America, Europe, and Japan, with less than 10 percent located in “distant-from-market” developing regions such as Saudi Arabia. But from that time most new methanol plants have been erected in developing regions while higher cost facilities in more developed regions were being shut down. The current standard capacities of conventional plants range between 2000 and 3000 tonnes of methanol per day. However, the newest plants tend to be much larger, with single trains of 5000 tonnes/day in Point Lisas, Trinidad (start-up in 2004), 5000 tonnes/day in Dayyer, Iran (start-up in 2006), and 5000 tonnes/day in Labuan, Malaysia (start construc­tion in 2006).

Methanol produced from biomass and employed in the automotive sector can address several of the problems associated with the current use of mineral oil derived fuels, such as energy security and greenhouse gas emissions.

This chapter discusses the technology for the production of methanol from biomass. For a selection of concepts, efficiencies and production costs have been calculated.