Search

Copyright of Chemie Ingenieur Technik (CIT) is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Today, the thermal disposal of waste is the acknowledged state of the art. During the incineration process various volume flows are generated, in particular carbon dioxide. This study describes a novel approach to the material use of carbon dioxide for methanol. The developed model enables a timely evaluation of investment and operating costs and generates a reliable basis for decision‐making within the framework of a site analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable methanol production is an emerging technology that bridges the gap in the shift from fossil fuel to renewable energy. Two thirds of the global emission of CO2 stems from humanity's increasing energy need from fossil fuels. Renewable energy, mainly from solar and wind energy, suffers from supply intermittency, which current grid infrastructures cannot accommodate. Excess renewable energy can be harnessed to power the electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen, which can be used in the catalytic hydrogenation of waste CO2 to produce renewable methanol. This review considers methanol production in the current context, regionally for Europe, which is dominated by Germany, and globally by China. Appropriate carbon‐based feedstock for renewable methanol production is considered, as well as state‐of‐the‐art renewable hydrogen production technologies. The economics of renewable methanol production necessitates the consideration of regionally relevant methanol derivatives. The thermodynamics, kinetics, catalytic reaction mechanism, operating conditions and reactor design are reviewed in the context of renewable methanol production to reveal the most up to date understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Methanol synthesis through CO2 hydrogenation under fluctuating conditions was investigated over a CuO/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst in an integral reactor. The performance of the catalyst was examined under stable conditions at 563 K and 80 bar. For dynamic experiments, the H2/CO2 ratio of the feed gas was changed sequentially. Although the activity and selectivity towards methanol of the catalyst was affected more under dynamic conditions, long‐term stability of the synthesis process was not influenced. The results show that it is possible to operate methanol synthesis with a fluctuating feed gas composition, as it is the case when CO2 is captured from a power plant and H2 from an electrolysis unit driven by a regenerative energy source, such as solar or wind power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today's efforts to substitute fossil energy carriers by renewable energy sources suffer from fluctuations of wind and sunlight for which there is a lack of appropriate energy storage technologies, in particular for electricity. A promising method in this direction is chemical energy storage, as the energy density of the chemical bond is unrivaled. At present, there are chiefly two alternatives under discussion: power-to-gas (PtG) producing methane (synthetic natural gas, SNG) and power-to-liquid, which stores electric power in the form of methanol. However, the pros and cons of either technology are typically discussed without regarding the process economy and the overall efficiencies, and the material use of the target compounds has also been neglected. Detailed analyses of operational experiences from existing methane and methanol plants by AirLiquide (formerly Lurgi) revealed significant differences between both approaches, among which methanol has emerged to have the best overall efficiency (44.9 %). In addition, methanol has the additional advantage of being a universal chemical and fuel feedstock, thus representing the ideal candidate for not only chemical energy storage, but also for substituting fossil raw materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methyl formate is a key component for both defossilized industry and mobility. The current industrial production via carbonylation of methanol has various disadvantages such as high requirements on reactant purity and low methanol conversion rates. In addition, there is a great interest in replacing the conventional homogeneous catalyst with a heterogeneous one, among other things to improve the downstream processing. This is why new approaches for methyl formate are sought. This review summarizes promising approaches for methyl formate production using methanol as a reactant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]