Technical and Economic Assessment of Methanol Production from Biogas
Translated title
Teknisk og Økonomisk Vurdering af Methanol Produktion fra Biogas
Authors
Pedersen, Thomas Helmer ; Schultz, René Haller
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2012
Submitted on
2012-05-31
Pages
138
Abstract
Vedvarende brændstoffer er vigtige for transportsektoren og for at lagre overskydende el fra svingende kilder. Denne afhandling undersøger produktion af vedvarende metanol baseret på elektrolyse og biogas. Der vurderes to anlægsstørrelser: gårdskala og storskalafabrik. Tre nye, konceptuelle procesdesigns er opstillet og modelleret i Aspen Plus (proces-simuleringssoftware). Der er udført varmeintegration samt en økonomisk analyse af anlægs- og driftsomkostninger for at beregne metanolens produktionspris, og hver løsning er efterfølgende omkostningsoptimeret. Resultaterne viser, at storskala giver skalafordele, og at store anlæg med delvis oxidationsreformering har de laveste omkostninger. Den estimerede produktionspris ligger på 418–687 USD/ton. De konkurrencedygtige priser kan være et incitament til øget biogasproduktion. Alligevel er det usandsynligt, at en dansk metanolinfrastruktur kan baseres udelukkende på biogassyntese, fordi konverteringseffektiviteten til metanol er lav.
Renewable fuels are important for the transport sector and for storing surplus electricity from intermittent sources. This thesis examines producing renewable methanol using electrolysis and biogas. Two plant scales are considered: farm scale and large scale. Three new conceptual process designs were developed and modeled in Aspen Plus (process simulation software). Heat integration and a techno-economic assessment of capital and operating costs were performed to estimate the methanol production cost, followed by cost optimization of each design. The results show that economies of scale favor large plants, and large plants using partial oxidation reforming have the lowest costs. The estimated production cost is 418–687 USD per ton. These competitive costs could incentivize greater biogas production. However, it is unlikely that a Danish methanol infrastructure can rely entirely on biogas-based synthesis, due to low conversion efficiencies to methanol.
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