Methanol production costs

Methanol. If methanol is to compete with conventional gasoline and diesel fuel it must be readily available and inexpensively produced. Thus methanol production from a low-cost feed stock such as natural gas [8006-14-2] or coal is essential (see Feedstocks). There is an abundance of natural gas (see Gas, natural) woddwide and reserves of coal are even greater than those of natural gas. 

Produced from a.tura.1 Ga.s, Cost assessments of methanol produced from natural gas have been performed (13—18). Projections depend on such factors as the estimated costs of the methanol production faciUty, the value of the feedstock, and operating, maintenance, and shipping costs. Estimates vary for each of these factors. Costs also depend on the value of oil. Oil price not only affects the value of natural gas, it also affects the costs of plant components, labor, and shipping. 

Office of Pohcy, Planning, and Analysis, Assessment of Costs and Benefits ofElexible and Alternative Euel Use in the U.S. Transportation Sector, Technical Report 3 (Methanol Production and Transportation Costs) Pub. DOE/P/E—0093, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, D.C., Nov. 

Liquid Fuels via Methanol Synthesis and Conversion. Methanol is produced catalyticaHy from synthesis gas. By-products such as ethers, formates, and higher hydrocarbons are formed in side reactions and are found in the cmde methanol product. Whereas for many years methanol was produced from coal, after World War II low cost natural gas and light petroleum fractions replaced coal as the feedstock. 

The nameplate capacity of worldwide methanol plants is given by country in Table 2 (27). A significant portion of this capacity is based on natural gas feedstock. Percent utilization is expected to remain in the low 90s through the mid-1990s. A principal portion of this added capacity is expected to continue to come from offshore sources where natural gas, often associated with cmde oil production, is valued inexpensively. This has resulted in the emergence of a substantial international trade in methanol. In these cases, the cost of transportation is a relatively larger portion of the total cost of production than it is for domestic plants. 

Methanol can be produced from biomass, essentially any primary energy somce. Thus, the choice of fuel in the transportation sector is to some extent determined by the availability of biomass. As regards to the difference between hydrogen and methanol production costs, conversion of natural gas, biomass and coal into hydrogen is generally more energy efficient and less expensive than the conversion into methanol. 

Synthetic methanol is one of the major raw materials of the organic-chemical industry. Methanol has economic stability and a stejdy growth rale ow-ing lo ihe low costs of production and diversity of applications. Nearly all Ihe methanol producers also make formaldehyde, which is... 

In the U.S., the primary methanol production location is in the Gulf Coast area. Methanol is also produced in Canada, South America, Europe, and the Middle East. Methanol production and price is not controlled by any single country or consortium of countries. Any country with remote natural gas reserves is a candidate for methanol production since production of methanol usually represents the most cost-effective means of developing those reserves. 

In appearance, thermodynamics seems to be nothing more or less than a nice collection of abstract mathematical relations between the properties of matter valid for the various states in which this matter may prevail. It becomes more substantial when thermodynamics is applied, as in process technology. The extent to which one form of energy (e.g., heat) can be converted into another (e.g., work) or to which one form of matter (e.g., methane) can be converted into another form of matter (e.g., methanol or hydrogen) is traditionally governed by thermodynamics. But even if such conversions appear to be "technologically" feasible, their practical realization may still depend on the economic viability. Monetary units such as the dollar and concepts such as the cost of production factors (e.g., labor and capital) enter the analysis and often dominate the outcome. Interestingly... 

Investments. Several studies have been published, evaluating the investment costs of methanol production from coal, lignite and biomass. The set of values have been selected as shown in Table IV ... 

Methanol production is not a "capital intensive" process as compared to other synfuel production systems. Fixed capital cost is between US 0.21 and 0.35 per liter/year of installed capacity. This investment cost is similar to that needed for ethanol production in Brazil. 

Methanol synthesis plants utilizing the low-pressure process currently operate at capacities of 2 x 105 to 2 x 106 metric tons per year [15]. Such installations are composed of a synthesis gas production unit, the actual methanol synthesis reactor, and a separation and purification section. The production and purification of synthesis gas accounts for 50%-80% of the total cost of methanol production, with the remaining cost associated with the actual synthesis and purification of methanol [2, 8], Although a variety of carbonaceous feedstocks can be transformed into synthesis gas, the steam reforming of natural gas (Equation [4]) is by far the most common option, especially for large plants [2, 15-16] ... 

Production Economics For Hydrogen, Ammonia And Methanol During The 1980-2000 Period, Exxon Research and Engineering Company, Government Research Contract No. 368150-S April 1977, Appendix A by Chem Systems Inc.", Cost of Production Estimates For Hydrogen, Ammonia And Methanol, October 21, 1976, P. 127-166. 

The raw materials cost is the most significant operating cost. The production cost for methanol from wood is estimated to be almost twice that produced from natural gas. Improving the efficiency of the gasifier reactor to increase the quantities of CO and H2 produced from wood would enhance the process. 

U.S. Transportation Sector - Technical Report Three Methanol Production and Transportation Costs , US Department of Energy DOE/PE-0093 Details from Waterbourne LPG 21/06/2001 J. Hawkins, Oil Gas Journal, December 16, 2002, p. 46... 

Figure 11.9 Sensitivity of methanol production cost to feedstock price...

By far, the major portion of carbon dioxide emissions in the MTO route is in the production of methanol from either gas or coal. The gas route is less carbon intensive as is illustrated in Figure 11.11, which plots the increase in methanol production cost against carbon price. 

Transportation Sector - Technical Report Three - Methanol Production and Transportation Costs, United States Department of Energy, November 1989. 

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