Novel coal-to-methanol process with near-zero carbon emission: Pulverized coal gasification-integrated green hydrogen process. (10th March 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wang, Dongliang; Meng, Wenliang; Zhou, Huairong; Yang, Yong; Xie, Jiangpeng; Yang, Siyu; Li, Guixian
• Is Part Of: Journal of cleaner production. Volume 339(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-03-10
• Subjects: Coal-to-methanol -- Renewable H2 -- Process simulation -- Parameter analysis -- Techno-economic analysis; Factory and trade waste -- Management -- Periodicals; Manufactures -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Déchets industriels -- Gestion -- Périodiques; Usines -- Aspect de l'environnement -- Périodiques; 628.5
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.130500
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0959-6526

Abstract

Abstract: The coal-to-methanol (CTM) is an important technical route for methanol production. The process suffers from high CO2 emission and low energy efficiency due to the mismatch of H/C (hydrogen-to-carbon) ratio between raw coal and products. Hydrogen production from renewable energy can be introduced into the system to meet the H/C ratio. In this paper, a novel CTM process with near-zero carbon emission has been proposed, the direct CO2 emission is decreased from 1.9 to 0.035 t CO2 ·t −1 MeOH. The novel process avoids requirement of the water-gas shift unit to reduce the production of CO2 from the source, and a novel acid gas removal process is proposed to remove sour gas while ensuring the reduction of CO2 loss. Compared with traditional CTM, CO2 emission intensity, carbon utilization efficiency and energy efficiency of the novel process are 88.87% lower, 130.77% higher, and 39.64% higher, respectively. The novel process is economically feasible when the H2 price is less than 10.36 CNY·kg −1 H2 and the carbon tax is higher than 223.3 CNY·t −1 CO2 . This study will enable both economic and environmental route for methanol production in the future and will facilitate future studies on the integration and management of CTM coupled renewable energy. Graphical abstract: Image 1 Highlights: - Proposed a novel coal-to-methanol process with near-zero carbon emission. The direct CO2 emission in the novel process is lowered to 0.035 t t −1 MeOH. The novel process would be competitive at green H2 price below 10.36 CNY·kg −1 and carbon tax above 223.3 CNY·t −1 .