Methanol Production from Synthesis Gas derived from ...charlie497.wikispaces.com/file/view/GroupCharlieReport.doc · Web viewThe gasification plant will be located in the Chicagoland

Methanol Production from Synthesis Gas derived from Municipal Solid Waste

Department of Chemical EngineeringUniversity of Illinois at Chicago

ChE. 397

Group Charlie: Priya Chetty, Scott Morgan, Brian Mottel, Daniyal Qamar, Sukhjinder SinghMentor: Dennis O’Brien

Instructor: Dr. Jeffery Perl 3/3/11

Group Charlie Page 1

Table of Contents

I. Abstract II. Executive Summary III. Introduction IV. Process Description V. Process Control VI. Environmental Concerns and their mitigation VII. Economics VIII. Recommendations IX. Appendices

1. Design Basis2. Block Flow Diagram3. Process Flow Diagram4. Material and Energy balances5. Calculations6. Process Simulation in ASPEN 7. Annotated Equipment List8. Economic Evaluation9. Utilities10. Conceptual Control Scheme11. General Arrangement12. Distribution and End-use Issues review13. Constraints Review14. Applicable Standards15. Project Communications File16. Information Sources and References


I. Abstract

Methanol is a chemical which is used in many diverse applications. Methanol is

commonly used as a fuel, as antifreeze, and as a solvent, but can also be utilized to produce

plastics, adhesives, and dyes. The most common method for producing methanol involves

combining methane (natural gas) and water to produce synthesis gas, which is carbon monoxide

and diatomic hydrogen.

This synthesis gas is then used to produce methanol. The issue with this process is that

methane is very useful as a heating fuel which is why it is used to fulfill residential heating

needs. This method of methanol production is essentially using a fuel to produce another fuel as

the product. Our goal is to make Methanol by using a sustainable source of fuel. The source of

our synthesis gas is Chicago Land Municipal Solid Waste. We are utilizing a waste stream rather

than a fossil sourced feed stock. This will be the source of our synthesis gas. We will then

compress the synthesis gas, and feed it into a multiple feed reactor which contains Cu/ZnO/Al2O3

catalysts to produce methanol.

Unused synthesis gas will be separated from the initial product stream and recycled back

into the reactor. The initial product stream will contain methanol, along with water, as well as

other alcohols such as ethanol, and propanol. To ensure that the methanol produced will meet

the grade AA industry standard, which states that it must be 99.85% pure, the initial product will

go through a flash separator followed by two distillation columns.


II. Executive SummaryBy utilizing the process outlined in this report, 99.85% pure methanol can be produced at

a rate of XXX tons per day from a feed stock of XXX tons per day of synthesis gas which will be

produced by gasification of 5,000 tons per day of municipal solid waste. Conversion of

synthesis gas to methanol is conducted in a Lurgi reactor which will utilize a Cu/ZnO/Al2O3

catalyst, and a recycle stream. The desired product will then be separated from byproducts via

flash separation, and purified using two distillation columns.

The capital cost needed to build a plant of this magnitude is $XXX. The internal rate of

return for this plant would be X%, and the payback period would be XX years.

III. IntroductionThe objective of the syngas to methanol process is to produce 1200 tons/day of grade AA

methanol for use in the chemical, automotive, and plastics industries. The syngas that is

procured for this process will have been produced by gasification of municipal sold waste.

There are many advantages to utilizing syngas produced via this method, such as; it eliminates

the need for methane, it is less expensive due to the solid waste tipping fee, and it is a much more

green technology which is important to consumers.


Currently there are 90 methanol plants worldwide with an annual production of 11 billion

gallons, generating $12 billion per year in revenue. The market outlook for the future of the

methanol industry is good, with global demand expected to rise in the years to come.

The gasification plant will be located in the Chicagoland area because ample municipal

solid waste is produced there; in fact the average production is 25,000 tons per day. The

methanol plant will be located near the gasification plant, because geographic proximity will

reduce transportation costs, which also reduces the consumer price of the product.

IV. Process Description

Compressor

The syngas from the gasifier will reach the methanol synthesis plant at 300 psi. This

pressure is too low for the reactor and needs to be raised. There will be a multistage compressor

to raise the pressure to the needed value of 1200 psi. Since it is a multistage compressor there is

some pressure drop between each of the stages, due to the fact that when the gas is heated in the

compressor it will need to be cooled, and this cooling will decrease the pressure. So instead of

having an overall compression ratio of 4:1, the total compression will need to be around 4.5:1 to

overcome the pressure drop from the inter-stage coolers. The cooling water in this part of the

process will be at 90 °C, because this will eliminate for a cooling tower which is fairly expensive

to install.


Reactor

Methanol synthesis is a very complex process since it is very equilibrium limited, and

quite exothermic; therefore it is imperative that the correct type of reactor is chosen to obtain the

desired results. There are many diverse types of reactors which may be used in the synthesis of

methanol, which utilize various methods of catalysis, and removal of heat from the reaction. A

significant amount of time was spent evaluating the different types of reactors to ensure that the

correct one was chosen. Below is an example of some of the reactors that were considered

along with information about each:

ICI Multiple Feed Quench Reactor

The ICI reactor uses multiple feeds to bring the reaction temperature down to the desired

value. This however requires a very high flow of air into the reactor which reduces the

effectiveness of the compressor. The reactor utilizes multiple catalyst beds to reach a conversion

of 35-40%. The maximum production rate of the ICI multiple feed quench reactor is 5000 tons

per day. The amount of syngas required to remove the heat of the reaction is in excess of that

which is able to be procured, therefore this reactor did not meet the necessary requirements for

this process.


Lurgi Combination Converter Reactor

The Lurgi reactor….

Example of Lurgi Methanol Reactor courtesy of http://www.lurgi.com/


In the production of methanol from syngas, which will have a H2 to CO ratio of 3:1, there

are several reactions that will have to be considered:

CO + 2H2 ↔ CH3OH (1)

CO2 + H2 ↔ CO + H2O (2)

CO2 + 3H2 ↔ CH3OH + H2O (3)

2CO + 4H2 ↔ C2H5OH + H2O (4)

These reactions occur simultaneously inside of the reactor, during the methanol synthesis step.

The kinetics of the above reactions can be found in literature. From all of the reaction kinetics, it

is possible to find the production yield of each of the components in the syngas. The following

reactions are for the kinetics of methanol synthesis:

In the reactor there will be a Cu/Zn/Al catalyst to drive the overall reaction towards methanol.

This catalyst is used in many other reactors. The poisons of this specific catalyst are sulfur,

chlorine, CO2, and high temperatures. So in order to ensure that the catalyst life can stay at a


reasonable time, the syngas that is fed into the reactor must have none of the above chemicals,

and the temperature of the reactor will need to stay at ____ F. The conversions are 40% for

reaction 1, 13% for reaction 2, 2 % for reaction 3, and 2% for reaction 4.

After the syngas has been reacted it will be at ___psi and ___F. The reacted gas will then

go through several pieces of equipment until it reaches the distillation columns for purification of

the product. The gas will need to be split for a recycle feed and remaining gas. The remaining

gas will have a high amount of crude methanol and fewer impurities than before. After this the

stream will be put through a condenser and heat exchanger in order to have the methanol in the

liquid phase and to be at a much lower temperature. Then the crude methanol is put through a

flash tank and finally to the distillation unit.

Heat Exchangers

Since many of the different pieces of equipment throughout the process need the syngas

or methanol at different temperatures, there will be two several heat exchangers throughout the

entire process. These particular heat exchangers will be a shell and tube heat exchangers, which

consists of a series of tubes. One set of these tubes contains the fluid that must be either heated

or cooled. The second fluid runs over the tubes that are being heated or cooled so that it can

either provide the heat or absorb the heat required. The fluid used in this case will be water. A

heat exchanger will be present after the multi-stage compressor in order to utilize the energy

from a high compression process. The second heat exchanger will be present after the reactor.

The reactor will be producing heat at an amount of ___, which can be utilized with this heat

exchanger. The first heat exchanger will have an area of ___, with ___ inner tubes having an

inner and outer diameter of ___ and ___ respectively. The second heat exchanger will have an


area of __, with __ inner tubes having an inner and outer diameter of __ and __ respectively. The

energy balances around the heat exchangers can be found in the appendix, and they show how

much energy is needed to run each of them.

Distillation Columns

In order to obtain the grade AA methanol at the end of the process, there will need to be

two distillation columns installed. Both of the columns will need both condensers and reboilers

on them. After the second distillation column the methanol will be pure enough to sell as Grade

AA Methanol. The first distillation column will need to be at 31psi, 118°F, have 15 trays, and

the feed will be located above the ___th tray. The second distillation column will need to be at

31psi, 188°F, have 25 trays, and the feed will need to be at the ___th tray to obtain to correct

purity of methanol. After the first distillation process there will be water, ethanol, and other

higher hydrocarbons, along with the methanol. Majority of the methanol will be in the bottom

stream, including water and ethanol, which will then be fed to the second distillation column.

After the second distillation column, methanol will be present the distillate stream and the water

along with methanol and ethanol will be in the bottom stream. The water will be used for either

cooling another part of the process, or it could be heated to produce steam to be used in a heat

exchanger or to power some of the necessary equipment. The ethanol and higher hydrocarbons

will need to be separated from methanol and then they can be sold to a different company to be

used for a different process. Using ASPEN it is possible to find the dew and bubble points of the

streams exiting the columns. From all of the information, the height of the columns can be found

and from that the sizing.


V. Process Control

A control process is very important in the aspect of manufacturing a quality product.

This can be assured by having the quality designed into the product and also into the

manufacturing process. Achieving this will allow the use of the process control to ensure that

the methanol produced meets the standards of grade AA methanol. At this point, the design

basis is not set to ensure a complete process control. However, there are a few vendors that

provide process control solutions.

Methanol@Max provided process controls specifically for methanol production plants.

They use particular software, which connects to the DCS and controls. This helps to optimize

the plant minute by minute, every hour of the day, every day of the year. The software does use

the PLC method. The program will reduce the variance in the parameters and reduce the need

for operator intervention. This will also help in improved separation, reduce energy

consumption, and improve the overall plant stability. Maximizing conversion and increasing

methanol production will be the key components of this software. Also, maintaining the

reactor’s parameters and adjusting them accordingly to the software will help ensure

productivity.

VI. Environmental Concerns and their mitigation

Methanol is highly flammable and may result in fire and explosive hazards, therefore

fireproof walls must be incorporated in the plant design to ensure personnel safety. Furthermore,

respirators and gloves must be utilized while working in areas of high vapor methanol

concentrations since prolonged human exposure to methanol has resulted in headaches,


dizziness, nausea, gastric upsets, blurred vision, and blindness. Humans should not be exposed

to methanol concentrations greater than 198ppm based on OSHA regulations. Overall, methanol

does not pose a high hazard to health; however, effective procedures must be implemented to

ensure the health and safety of the personnel.

Methanol synthesis generates CO2 resulting in greenhouse gases emissions into the

atmosphere and over long term global warming. In addition, CO2 is heavier than air, therefore,

increasing its tendency to leak through open valves; therefore, stringent guideless must be

executed while operating valves. To ensure environmental concerns, the plant will abide to EPA

and all other environmental regulation agencies and never discharge material that is detrimental

to the environment without utilizing proper guidelines.

The plant will abide by the waste water stream regulation proposed by the municipal

waste water treatment agency. Most heavy metals in the slag or fly ash flue can be either used in

asphalt construction or converted to fine, gritty material similar to sand respectively. Remaining

heavy metals which may have run into the waste water can be removed through flocculation and

precipitation and discarded as chemical waste. Further research will be conducted to ensure the

processes discussed have competing edge, and all technological advances to impede harmful

environmental impact will be embedded in the plant design.

References

Law , Nicole, Caitlin Nichols, and David Tamayo. "Final Report: Methanol Synthesis." Chemical

Engineering Program (2008): 11-14. Web. 2 Mar 2011.

Amirkhas, Elton, Raj Bedi, Steve Harley, and Trevor Lango. "Methanol Production in Trinidad and

Tobago." Final Report (2006): 7-8. Web. 2 Mar 2011.


VII. Economics

Recommendations

With all industrial processes there will be many recommendations to ensure that the process

would work both efficiently and economically. Some things that could change throughout our process

would be reactor conditions, catalyst for the reactor and CO2 removal, and conditions for any other

piece of equipment. Changing conditions for any piece of equipment would help to decrease the price

of the process, but on the other hand it could cause inefficiency in the system. A cost evaluation would

have to be preformed not only on the entire system but each piece of equipment to ensure that the

process can make the most profit. Any piece of equipment that needs high pressure or temperature will

increase the cost of that equipment. If the process was able to make the same amount of final product

with lower pressure or temperature, this would decrease the price of installment and increase the final

profit.

Catalysts are used in almost all chemical productions nowadays and choosing the best catalyst

for the process is extremely important. We are using a Cu/Zn/Al catalyst for the methanol synthesis

from syngas, and it seems to be the same one that is used in industrial processes for methanol synthesis.

Since catalysts are extremely expensive the choice of the correct one is vital. If there were to be a

cheaper or one that produced higher yields, they would need to be considered in our process. There is a

lot of research in the field of catalysis, and ones of the future seem that they will be able to make

processes run at lower conditions, which will in turn create lower prices on equipment.


The most expensive part of our process, along with industrial processes, is the reactor to

produce crude methanol. This is due to the fact that very high pressure is needed to ensure the crude

methanol is produced with the fewest impurities. Our reactor is running at _____ psi and ____°F. If it

were possible to lower both pressure and temperature in the reactor, this would decrease the overall

price of the process. The Lurgi reactor seems to be the best reactor for the methanol synthesis reaction,

because it does not require an excess amount of syngas to cool it like the ICI Synetix reactor. There

could be other reactors better suited for the process, but it seems that the Lurgi will be the most cost

effective and efficient.

VIII. Recommendations

IX Appendices

Appendices1. Design Basis

By utilizing the process outlined in this report, 99.85% pure methanol can be produced at

a rate of XXX tons per day from a feed stock of XXX tons per day synthesis gas which will be

produced by gasifying 25,000 tons per day of municipal solid waste. Conversion of synthesis

gas to methanol is conducted in a LURGI quench reactor which will utilize a Cu/ZnO/Al2O3

catalyst, and a recycle stream. The desired product is then separated from byproducts via flash

separation followed by two distillation columns. Ideally the plant would be located in the


Chicagoland area, because this is where the synthesis gas feedstock will be produced, and

geographic proximity will reduce transportation costs. The capital cost needed to build a plant

of this magnitude is $XXX. The internal rate of return for this plant would be X%, and the

payback period would be XX years.

2. Block Flow Diagram

3. Process Flow Diagram

The following figure shows the overall process flow diagram. Smaller pieces of the picture are shown below for more detail


This figure shows the first heat exchanger, compressor, and the second heat exchanger.


This figure shows the stream coming into the reactor, the steam drum for the reactor, the turbo expander, and finally a heat exchanger that cools the product down.


This figure shows an air cooler, a heat exchanger, and then the flash drum. The stream leaving the flash drum on the top is the recycle stream that loops back to join fresh syngas into the compressor.


This shows the final step of the process where crude methanol is put through distillation columns and grade AA methanol is produced(P-64)


4. Material and Energy balances

Rough balance around the reactor


5. Calculations

Equipment optimization procedure:

Heat exchanger (shell and tube) sizing technique utilizing Seider method

1.) Calculate R and S:

correlation factor, function of fluid temp, number of tube and shell passes and is correlated as a function of two dimensionless temp ratios:

2.) Calculate F:

correlation factor F t for 1-2 heat exchangers- 1 shell pass, 2 or more tube pass heat exchanger

3.) Calculate log mean temp (countercurrent flow)

T1 inlet shell fluid temp

T 2 outlet shell fluid temp

t 1 inlet tube side temp

t 2 outlet tube-side temp


4.) Calculate Q and UA

assume: U = 100 (BTU/F*ft^2*h)

5.) Calculate tubes required using pipe parameters from Towler.

6.) Based on the number of tubes, utilize Seider Table and obtain the closest number of tubes with corresponding shell diameter

7.) Calculate shell side and tube side heat transfer coefficient correlated with the Reynolds number

8.) Calculate overall heat transfer coefficient

http://www.chemstations.com/content/documents/Technical_Articles/shell.pdf

Flash Unit

1.) Calculate max vapor velocity


2.) Calculate minimum diameter

3.) Calculate liquid height

4.) Calculate vapor height H v = (pv/ Y)

Y= specific weight of fluid

5.) Calculate overall length

6.) Find L/D ratio7.) If L/D > 6, increase D and repeat 3-6 steps

Multi-tubular, Ideal plug flow reactorAssume steady state and isothermal conditions

1.) Reactor equationat steady state, no accumulation, therefore

2.) Integrate above equation to find volume yields


3.) Final simplified power law expression

4.) Final complicated power law expression

http://rshanthini.com/tmp/CP303/set4.pdf

Equipment Cost procedure:

Cost of Pumps

Cost of centrifugal pump is based on volumetric flowrate and head required

1.) Utilize cost equation

Pc is the power consumption


http://rshanthini.com/tmp/CP303/set4.pdf

S is the sizing factor for the pump

2.) Utilize sizing and power consumption equation respectively to plug into cost equation

Pc (power consumption) in HP

Q (flowrate) in Gal/min

H (pump head) in Ft

(density) in lbs/galnp = -0.316 + 0.24051* (lnQ)-0.01199*(lnQ)^2 (fractional efficiency of the pump) in

dimensionless units

nm = 0.80 + 0.0319 * (lnPc)-0.00182 * (lnPc)^2 (fractional efficiency of the motor) in dimensionless units

3.) Applying Seider’s value, calculate purchasing cost utilizing the equations

Pump: Cp = Ft * Fm * Cb

Motor: Cp = Ft * Cb

Ft (type factor) 2.7

Fm (material factor) 1.0

Cost of Compressors


I.) Purchase cost values obtained from Garrett and Walas (1988) for electric motor drive, cast iron or carbon-steel construction since Cp= Cb

II.) For other drives and materials of construction

Cp = Fd * Fm * Cb

Drive Fd Material Fm

Steam turbine 1.15 Stainless steel 2.5

Gas turbine 1.25 Nickel Alloy 5

Cost of Methanol Synthesis Reactor

Utilize shell and tube exchanger approach

Fixed head

A is area for heat exchanger in square ft.

Cb = exp (11.0515-0.9228(ln(A))+0.09861(ln(A))^2)

Fm = a+((A/100)^b)

Fp = 0.9803 + 0.018*(P/100)+0.0017*(P/100)^2

FI values can be obtained in Seider and Seader


Cp= Fp*Fm*FI*Cb

Base and Purchasing cost of the MSR

Type P a b A Fm FI Fp Cb Cp

Psig sqft $ $

Fixed 1000? 418,879?

1 1 1.33 5,302,257?

7,053,593?

* data need to be verified through aspen simulation and operating parameters keep changing.

Cost of Distillation Columns

*need operating conditions and dimensions

Towers for 9,000 < W < 2,500,000 lb (?)

Cv = exp (7.0374+0.18255(ln(W))+0.02297(ln(W))^2

Towers for 3 < Di < 24ft and 27< L<170 ft

Cpl = 237.1 * (Di)0.63316*(L)^0.80161


Weight calculation: W = pi()*(Di+ts)*(L+0.8Di)*ts*rho

For Po min = 10 psig

Po > 1000psig use Po= 1.1* Po and neglect equation below

Pd = exp (6.60608+0.91615(ln(Po))+0.0015655(ln(Po))^2)

tp= (Pd*Di)/(2S*E-1.2*Pd)

tp must be greater than a minimum value for rigidity based on the diameter

S is the maximum allowable stress of the shell material, at the designed temp in lbs per square inch

E is the fractional weld efficiency

6. Process Simulation in ASPEN:

An Overall process in ASPEN is shown below, each section is then broken down for simplicity


Compression:


Reactor:

Separations Train:


Simulation Detail:

The process was simulated in ASPEN and the results were used for sizing calculations and reactor details.

REACTOR:

The process was started with a simple RSTOIC reactor:

The inlet flow was defined to be 1700 tpd, temperature of 518 F and a pressure of 1190 psi. A pressure drop of 10 psi was taken through the reactor.

The temperature and pressure were defined as in the screen above. These values were obtained from literature. Furthermore four reactions were defined as below, with conversions taken from literature:


The new button is hit to add new reactions and this is where the reactants, products, and the conversions are defined:


Compressor:

After adding the reactor, a compressor was added but since the feed syngas was too hot to be fed to a compressor it was cooled using a heat exchanger. To map the compressor in ASPEN the following window was used:

Only vapor phase (selected in the convergence tab) was used through this condenser since only syngas and some recycled components well above their boiling points will be going through the compressor. The discharge pressure was the only number required for this unit and it was set at 1200 psi.

Heat Exchangers:

Several heat exchangers were used through the whole simulation. There was one before the compression train, another one cooling down the compressed syngas. Two more heat exchangers were used to cool down the products from the reactor, and finally another one was used to simulate air coolers. The hot stream outlet was the only specification made for the heat exchanger block. Cooling water stream temperature and flow rates going into heat exchangers were also defined. This was just


about enough water to bring the temperature of the stream down to the desired temperature. The following pictures show how they were modeled:

The pressure drop was defined as 5 psi for all the heat exchangers.


7. Annotated Equipment List:

Refer to the PFD for the equipment naming

E-12 Air Cooler

The air cooler is used between the third and fourth heat exchangers. It will cool the stream

between these two pieces of equipment so that the fourth heat exchanger can use the crude methanol

stream.

E-4 Steam Drum

This piece of equipment is the steam drum that is used for the reactor. The reactor uses

saturated water to cool it and produces steam from the heat created from the reactions that occur. The

steam drum sends water to a pump and receives steam from the reactor that will be condensed so it can

be used again to cool the reactor.

E-35 Condenser

This condenser is used to turn the final grade AA methanol produced from the second

distillation column into a liquid. After the methanol is in liquid form it will be sent to several storage

tanks.

E-32, 33, and 34

These three tanks are shown in the PFD to show where the final product will be collected. Three

tanks are shown, but in reality there will be a total of 11 tanks that will be able to hold the methanol

product. The methanol will be at 99.85% purity, which is defined to be sold at grade AA.

Heat Exchanger 1


The first exchanger is used to cool the synthesis gas from 500°F to 458°F to be used in the

compressor unit. Cooling water is used on the tube side of the exchanger in order to cool the syngas.

The water enters at 80°F and 20 psi, and then leaves the exchanger at 169.79°F and 20psi. This

exchanger will be run at 218°psi. The heat transfer area of this heat exchanger 87.72 ft2.

Heat Exchanger 2

The second heat exchanger is another shell and tube heat exchanger. It will receive the

compressed syngas from the condenser and will send the gas to the reactor at a much lower

temperature. The syngas will enter at 1200 psi and 716.63°F and then leave at 1190 psi and 482°F.

Cooling water will be used on the tube side of the exchanger in order to cool the syngas. The heat

transfer area of this exchanger is 1,119.8 ft2.

Heat Exchanger 3

The third heat exchanger in the process will be a shell and tube heat exchanger. It will receive

the stream from the turbo expander and sent it to another heat exchanger. The stream will consist of

CO, H2, CO2, Methanol, N-Butanol, and Ethanol. The stream will enter at 648.3 psi and 424.1°F and then

will be sent to the fourth heat exchanger at 638 psi and 350°F. Cooling water will be used in order to

cool the stream inside of the exchanger. The hot water that is taken out of the heat exchanger will be

sent into the fourth heat exchanger to be used as the cold stream. The heat transfer area of the third

heat exchanger is 366.1 ft2.

Heat Exchanger 4

The fourth heat exchanger will take the stream from the third heat exchanger and send it to the

flash column. The stream will enter at 638 psi and 350°F, and then be leaving at 638 psi and 118.13°F.

The heat transfer area of this heat exchanger is 61,006 ft2. Cooling water will once again be used in


order to cool the stream inside of the heat exchanger except the colder stream will be from the third

heat exchanger.

Pump E-36

This pump is used in order to pump the syngas received from group Delta into the first heat

exchanger. Due to pressure drop in pipes, this pump is used to ensure that the first heat exchanger

receives then clean syngas at the pressure specified in the heat exchanger.

Pump E-5

This pump is used to pump the cooling water into the first heat exchanger. Since there is a

pressure drop in piping a pump is used in order to ensure that the cooling water will enter the heat

exchanger at the correct pressure.

Pump E-38

This pump is used between the steam drum and the reactor. Since water is needed to cool the

reactor, this pump is used to pump the water from the steam drum to the reactor.

Pump E-9

This pump is used to pump cooling water into the steam drum. This is used to cool the steam

that is produced from the reactor so that it condenses the steam back into water.

Pump E-37

This pump is used on the purge stream. It will pump the purge stream from the recycle stream

to a combustion unit because there will be a large amount of CO2 in the stream and that cannot be put

into the atmosphere.


Pump E-10

This pump is used to pump cooling water into the third heat exchanger. After the pump the

water will be at 70°F and 20 psi.

Reactor

The reactor is a Lurgi reactor that takes in syngas at 1190 psi and 482°F to produce crude

methanol and other products. After the main reaction occurs, along with other side reactions, the

product stream leaves the reactor at 1200 psi and 518°F. Since the reaction creates a lot of heat, water

will be fed into the reactor to produce steam. This steam will be condensed in order to keep cooling the

reactor. Inside of the reactor there will be the Cu/Zn/Al catalyst. This catalyst is used in order to keep

the pressure needed to run the reaction lower than without a catalyst.

Compressor block

In ASPEN this is shown as one compressor, but in reality it is a multistage compressor. The

compressor unit takes the syngas from the first heat exchanger at 300 psi and 458°F, and then increases

the pressure to 1200 psi which is needed to run the reactor. When pressure increases so does the

temperature which will leave the compressor unit at 716.63°F. In order to obtain the high pressure the

compressor will need to have 44,391 HP. The exiting stream from this unit will be sent to a second heat

exchanger before entering the reactor.

Turbo Expander

Since the reactor is at such high pressure, a turbo expander is needed downstream in order to

decrease the pressure quickly. The crude methanol stream from the reactor, which enters the turbo


expander, will enter at 1200 psi and 518°F. After going through the expander the stream will be at 648

psi and 424°F. This exiting stream will be sent to the third heat exchanger to cool it before the stream

heads to the flash column. The turbo expander will be able to drive a turbine to produce 7,726 HP, and

has an isentropic efficiency of 0.72 or 72%.

Flash column

This piece of equipment is used to take the crude methanol stream and separate it into two

streams. The stream enters the flash column at 638 psi and 118°F. After going through the column the

vapor is sent back to the compressor as a recycle stream at the same temperature and pressure. The

liquid stream from the flash column is sent to an expansion valve to decrease the pressure before

distillation. The liquid stream is still at the same temperature and pressure but the composition of the

stream is different than the vapor stream.

Expansion Valve

The expansion valve is used to decrease the pressure of the liquid crude methanol stream

before it reaches the distillation columns. The stream enters the valve at 638 psi and 118F, and then

leaves at 31.5 psi and 87.8°F. This temperature and pressure is needed for the distillation column to run

effectively.

E-20 and E-29

These two drums are used to hold the distillate that is formed from the two distillation columns.

They will hold the distillate so it can condense and then be pumped back into their respective distillation

column.


E-18 and 30 are reboilers

E-19 and 31 are condensers

Distillation Column 1

Distillation Column 2

8. Economic Evaluation

Economics

Windy City Methanol has faith that the project under-hand will be financeable if various contractual

arrangements being negotiated with group Delta are satisfactorily executed. The complexity of the

project makes it essential for credible parties, viable technology, profitable economic basis, and

adequate incentives to be implemented for the project to be successful. Windy City Methanol believes it

has identified all major risk areas affiliated with the project, and will provide the types of risk protection

required by investors and interest parties to attain project financing. The following sections provide

detail on the economic sector of the project, contractual arrangements established, and type of risk

Windy City Methanol anticipates.

Capital Cost:

The project’s earlier estimates were re-evaluated and modified to reflect more accurate figures. The

largest modification to the project was utilizing a Lurgi methanol reactor as opposed to the traditional

ICI quench reactor. The total equipment cost for the project is estimated to be slightly over $43 million.

The following table shows a breakdown of the capital costs including a contingency reserve allocated for

any fiscal disparities during the construction of the Windy City Methanol plant.

The funds required to complete the Project are estimated below (in US dollars).

The installation factor figures were obtained from the “Plant Design and Economics for Chemical Engineers” by Peters & Timmerhaus.


Total Installed Costs

Equipment sub-total $ 43,969,504

Direct Costs Factor Cost

Piping 0.68 29,899,262

Instillation 0.47 20,665,667

Buildings 0.18 7,914,511

Electrical installation 0.11 4,836,645

Service facilities 0.70 30,778,652

Controls and valves 0.36 15,829,021

Subtotal 109,923,760

Indirect Costs Factor Cost

Construction Expenses 0.41 18,027,496

Supervision and Engineering 0.33 14,509,936

Legal Expenses 0.04 1,758,780

Contingency 0.44 19,346,581

Subtotal 53,642,794

Total Capital Investment 207,536,058

Please see “economic tables” for a detail breakdown of all the capital costs and descriptive equipment list.

The following table shows the low and high ranges of capital costs based on cost estimation (in millions of US dollars).

Low Likely High

Plant Cost 207 209 300

Vessel Cost 22 32 35

Land Cost (75 acre) 28 37 75

Total 257 278 410


Windy City Methanol estimates the total cost of the Project will be approximately $245 million and the

loan attained by a reputable bank will be used to finance 100% of the cost during the construction

period. Upon completion of the plant, approximately $61 million of the equity from the owners will be

used to reduce the outstanding bank debt. The remaining $184 million debt will be repaid over the next

19 years of the plant life. The sole purpose of financing the cost of designing, building and equipping the

Windy City Methanol plant is to construct a facility capable of producing 3,200 TPD of grade AA

methanol. The plant will be build over a 75 acre field located in Gary Avenue Indiana near Delta’s

gasification plant thus eliminating the transportation cost of the feedstock. Syngas will be supplied

under a long term contract and the methanol will be sold under a long term agreement with a

reputable, major US company. All necessary authorizations and design specifications, including all

relevant infrastructure development essential for normal operations for the project will be attained by

the end of the test period. Windy City Methanol believes that equity investors will be seeking a

minimum internal rate of return in the range of 16%-18% per annum. This minimum return is obtained

at a methanol price of $ 1.35 per gallon, and $ 200 per ton of feedstock.

Sensitivities and Assumptions:

The financial model is structured to reflect a realistic and feasible undertaking. The project model is

developed within the following parameters.

Selling price of methanol is $1.35 per gallon

Feedstock price of syn-gas is $ 200 per ton

Tax rate is 40%

Inflation rate is 0%

Contingency is $ 19 million

Total costs are $ 245 million

The internal rate of return (IRR) has be computed for three methanol prices; the results are shown

below:


Price of Methanol Cost of Syn-gas Feedstock (dollars/ton)

dollars/gal $200 $250

1.35 (base price) 16.00% 6.73%

1.50 41.68% 34.90%

1.75 96.30% 69.62%

Windy City Methanol believes a 16-18% IRR is highly attractive return for equity investors. The table

shows that this is easily attainable for all cases except for the scenario where the syngas feedstock costs

$250/ton and the methanol price is $1.35 per gallon. Based on historic methanol market prices patterns,

Windy City Methanol believes that a market price of $ 1.35 per gallon is realistic since there is increased

demand with limited world supply. A futuristic increase in methanol market prices is highly promising

since crude oil price is highly susceptible to political turmoil and is a limited resource.

Risk Profile

Market Risk: Inaccurate demand estimates. The selling price of methanol is not economically feasible for the project.

Protection: Attain a long term methanol purchase contract with a large, creditworthy US Corporation.

Syngas Supply Risk: Inaccurate supply estimates. The price at which syngas is bought is not economical for the project.

Protection: A long term syngas supply contract with a fixed price and a pledge of adequate MSW reserve to meet contractual agreement between Windy City Methanol and Group Delta.


Construction Risk: Construction overruns due to factors such as poor cost estimates, inflation, and construction delays caused by environmental or regulation mishaps. Overruns can cause funding problems and make the project uneconomical.

Protection: Fixed price contract agreements. Orchestrate several feasibility studies on cost estimates and implement stringent construction deadlines.

Operational Risk: Operation interruption caused by various situations such as plant failure, malfunctions, prolonged maintenance and repair, and natural disasters.

Protection: Have business interruption insurance to pay debt caused by plant failure or natural disaster.

Legal Risk: Long-term contracts among twp parties can result in legal disputes.

Protection: Attain high-quality legal advice. Have a devisable dispute settlement mechanism.

Labor-related Resources and Technical Feasibility:

Special skills are essential for a planned project; therefore, specific skill required for the Windy City

Methanol plant are listed below.

Personnel

Description Number Annual Salary Subtotal

Plant Operating Crew:

Operator 6 $40,000 $240,000

Lab Tech. 2 $30,000 $60,000

Mechanical Tech. 2 $35,000 $70,000

Process Engineer 4 $60,000 $240,000

Electrical Tech 1 $35,000 $35,000


Shift Supervisor 2 $45,000 $90,000

Maintenance 2 $40,000 $80,000

Administration:

Superintendent 1 $100,000 $100,000

Plant Manager 1 $80,000 $80,000

Total: 21 $995,000

*plant operating crew will have two 12-hour shifts to provide 24-hour coverage

Each personnel salary is based on accurate, current, and reputable pay-scales salary calculator websites in the Indiana state area and was validated by comparing other similar salary calculator sites. The salary figure median was taken into account and implemented in the cost estimation section of this report.

9. Utilities

Throughout the process there is a lot of cooling water needed along with electricity. Each

piece will need electricity to run, and power is also needed to run all of the temperature and

pressure controls. There will also need to be a facility to treat the cooling water needed in the

heat exchangers. The overall process will need _____ gallons/day of cooling water, along with

_____ MW/day of electricity.

The process will also require ____ pounds of steam/hour. Steam is needed for the heat

exchangers and to heat any other piece of equipment that needs to be heated.

10. Conceptual Control Scheme

The following figure shows the overall control scheme for the process.


11. General Arrangement

Process equipment arrangement and plant layout must be carefully analyzed before construction of a

new facility can begin, because these factors affect nearly every aspect of plant design and operation,

including: land requirements, permits, safety systems, construction, piping arrangements and costs,

operating costs, and future expansion. The location of the plant must be chosen prior to plant layout

because specifics such as average wind direction, and access to roads cannot be determined without a

plant location. The area chosen for the methanol plant is in Gary Indiana, just north of Gary Ave, which

can be seen in the image below. This location provides several advantages because it allows access to

nearby Hwy 90 for ease of transportation via freight, and is situated across the street from Group Delta’s

syngas plant. The proximity to the syngas plant is important because the syngas could be piped

underground directly into the methanol plant, significantly reducing transportation costs.


It was discovered that at this geographic location, the most common wind direction is the southwest to

the northeast. It is important because anywhere that there is an open flame must be upwind of any

flammable materials. This was used in the placement of the ground flare at the methanol plant which is

used to burn off unusable flammable materials. The location chosen for the ground flare was at the

southeast corner of the facility, so that the most common wind direction does not have the possibility of

blowing the flames of the ground flare towards the syngas and methanol storage tanks.

The plant layout itself was derived from the process flow diagram, and implemented into the chosen

location of the facility. The dimensions of the facility are 000ft by 000ft. Access will be provided


through an entrance at Cline Ave, which will lead to the west side of the facility. Visitors and employees

will be greeted by security officials at the gatehouse, and those granted access will be able to park in

one of the two available parking lots. The main offices are located in the northwest corner of the main

production building, and control rooms are located just south of the offices. The main production

building also houses the methanol synthesis components including: heat exchangers, flash drums,

compressors, turbo expanders, and the reactor. The main pipe rack is easily accessible to every piece of

equipment because it runs directly down the center of the building. The two distillation columns are

located outside the building on the east side. Storage tanks line the northern edge of the facility, with

plenty of area between the building and the tanks for easy access for tractor trailers. The specifics of

the plant layout can be seen in the image below.


Wind Direction

12. Distribution and End-use Issues review

The global market for methanol is forecasted to reach nearly 55.3 million metric tons by

the year 2015. This is mainly due to the growing consumption of methanol in Asia-Pacific,

specifically in China. A key factor that leads to the growing consumption of methanol is its use

in alternative fuels and the production of acetic acid. The three largest derivatives of methanol

are formaldehyde, methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) and acetic acid. Methanol consumption in

gasoline blending, especially in China, has grown significantly over the last few years, with this

use accounting for approximately 7% of world methanol consumption. This is mainly due to

Beijing settling on a national standard for methanol as an automotive fuel. China uses nearly 3

million tons of methanol, which gets blended yearly into the gasoline market. Just as the

United State uses E85 for cars that use ethanol blended with gasoline, the Chinese will be using

M85, to represent the use of methanol and gasoline. The numbers in these labels represent

the use of 85% methanol or ethanol and 15% gasoline.

Methanol can be used in a variety of industrial applications. Its largest use is as a raw

material for the production of methyl t-butyl ether (MTBE), a gasoline additive. MTBE is

manufactured via the chemical reaction of methanol and isobutylene. MTBE is used as an

oxygenate to raise the octane number in gasoline. MTBE is favored over ethanol because of its

superior performance in reducing benzene and formaldehyde in gasoline, and its lower volatile

organic compound content. It is also used in organic chemistry as a relatively

inexpensive solvent with properties comparable to diethyl ether but with a higher boiling point

and lower solubility in water. We will be specifically targeting companies that require

methanol as a use to produce MTBE. Some of these companies include Amoco and Citgo.


There are 27 companies producing methyl-tert-butyl ether at 32 facilities in the United States,

with these two companies included.

Methanol is also used in the production of formaldehyde, chloromethanes, methyl

methacrylate, methylamines, dimethyl terephthalate, and as a solvent or antifreeze in paint

strippers, aerosol spray paints, wall paints, carburetor cleaners, and car windshield washer

compounds. Formaldehyde accounts for about 36% of the estimated methanol demand; it is

used in resins for buildings materials and the wood products and in the construction of housing,

commercial and industrial structures, laminates in the furniture industry and engineering

plastics in the automotive industry. Acetic acid represents 11% of total demand. Vinyl acetate

(VAM), a derivative of acetic acid, is used in the manufacture of paints, adhesives, film, paper

and textiles and is the largest and fastest growing consumer of acetic acid.

The methanol produced at this particular power plant will have a purity of 99.85%,

which will qualify it to be sold as grade AA methanol. There are several requirements that need

to be met in order for it to be called grade AA methanol. The amounts of acetone and aldehyde

can only be at max 30 wt-ppm. Acetone and ethanol can only be present at a max limit of of 10

wt-ppm and there also cannot be any higher alcohols present. Finally, water must be only

present at maximum limit of 1,000 wt.-ppm.

In the long run methanol is being researched as a source of hydrogen for fuel cells

used in transportation, stationary power generation, and portable power applications. Many

recent U.S. patents and patent applications involve methanol fuels cells. Some of the

technologies patented for methanol cells include: anode structures, catalysts, membrane

assemblies for direct cells, and sensor-less optimization of methanol concentration in a cell.


13. Constraints Review

14. Applicable Standards

Talk about Grade AA Methanol. Can discuss EPA standards for the whole process and that no waste is being produced and everything is being oxidized in a thermal oxidizer.

15. Project Communications File

To view any more information about the process and the components, visit

http://charlie497.wikispaces.com. This site can be used to view all files and references used in

the research of our process. Any questions that arise about the process can be answered within

the wiki site.

16. Information Sources and References


http://charlie497.wikispaces.com/

Documents

Methanol Production from Synthesis Gas derived from ...charlie497.wikispaces.com/file/view/GroupCharlieReport.doc · Web viewThe gasification plant will be located in the Chicagoland