Methanol demand, world

Conventional uses of methanol account for 90% of present consumption and include formaldehyde, dimethyl terephthalate, methyl methacrylate, methyl halides, methylamines and various solvent and other applications. Newer uses for methanol that have revitalized its growth and outlook include a new technology for acetic acid, single cell protein, methyl tertiary butyl ether-(MTBE), and water denitrification. Potential uses for methanol include its use as a carrier for coal in pipelines, as a source of hydrogen or synthesis gas used in direct reduction of iron ore, as a direct additive to or a feedstock for gasoline, peak power shaving and other fuel related possibilities. Table II lists the world methanol demand by end use in 1979. 

The global demand for methanol has increased about 8%/yr from 1991 to 1995. The global production capacity of methanol has expanded by about 5.1 million metric tons, or 23% in the same time period. Leading the growth is increased methanol demand for MTBE and formaldehyde production. The world methanol supply/demand balance is shown in Table 3.19. 

This region of the world is stiU experiencing strong economic growth, at least compared with other re ons (Table 3 and Fig. 3). Therefore, we are somewhat optimistic on continued methanol demand for the production of formaldehyde and also dimethyl terephthalate. There will... 

Forecasted world methanol demand byproduct group. 

It is well known that this area of the world has large methanol feedstocks in the form of natural, associated, and refinery It is therefore not surprising that about 2 million ton new methanol production capacity came on-stream between 1983 and 1985 in the Persian Gulf and North Africa. There is very little current methanol demand in this part of the world, and most of the production is exported. At the present time, methanol production in the Middle East and Africa is dominated by Saudi Arabia and Libya. The plant in Libya started operations in 1978 and was expanded in early 1985. In early 1992, the Japanese consortium completed construction on a second plant at the Ar-Razi facility at A1 JubaiL In fact, there are some very preliminary plans to build a third methanol plant at Ar-Razi. In addition to the current methanol facilities in the Middle East, which includes the plant in Bahrain, we are aware of the following plans for other locations. 

Ethanol s use as a chemical iatemiediate (Table 8) suffered considerably from its replacement ia the production of acetaldehyde, butyraldehyde, acetic acid, and ethyUiexanol. The switch from the ethanol route to those products has depressed demand for ethanol by more than 300 x 10 L (80 x 10 gal) siace 1970. This decrease reflects newer technologies for the manufacture of acetaldehyde and acetic acid, which is the largest use for acetaldehyde, by direct routes usiag ethylene, butane (173), and methanol. Oxo processes (qv) such as Union Carbide s Low Pressure Oxo process for the production of butanol and ethyUiexanol have totaUy replaced the processes based on acetaldehyde. For example, U.S. consumption of ethanol for acetaldehyde manufacture declined steadily from 50% ia 1962 to 37% ia 1964 and none ia 1990. Butadiene was made from ethanol on a large scale duriag World War II, but this route is no longer competitive with butadiene derived from petroleum operations. 

Methyl alcohol (methanol) is the first member of the aliphatic alcohol family. It ranks among the top twenty organic chemicals consumed in the U.S. The current world demand for methanol is approximately 25.5 million tons/year (1998) and is expected to reach 30 million tons by the year 2002. The 1994 U.S. production was 10.8 billion pounds. 

Larger methanol production plants are more efficient than smaller ones. The size of a large (called world-scale) methanol plant is in the range of2000-2500 metric tons per day. If methanol were to become a widely used alternative fuel, many more methanol production plants would be required. Plants as large as 10,000 metric tons per day have been postulated to serve the demand created by transportation vehicles. 

Acetic acid (CH3COOH) is a bulk commodity chemical with a world production of about 3.1 x 106 Mg/year, a demand increasing at a rate of +2.6% per year and a market price of US 0.44-0.47 per kg (Anon., 2001a). It is obtained primarily by the Monsanto or methanol carbonylation process, in which carbon monoxide reacts with methanol under the influence of a rhodium complex catalyst at 180°C and pressures of 30-40 bar, and secondarily by the oxidation of ethanol (Backus et al., 2003). The acetic fermentation route is limited to the food market and leads to vinegar production from several raw materials (e.g., apples, malt, grapes, grain, wines, and so on). 

The discovery of poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET, in the 1940s [1,2] and its commercialization initially by DuPont and by ICI in the 1950s created a large market demand for terephthalic acid and terephthalate esters of polymer purity. Because dimethyl terephthalate, DMT, is readily purified by distillation [3] (and also because the p-xylene oxidation/esteiification intermediate, methyl p-toluate, is more readily kept in solution than is p-toluic acid) the polyester fibers and films industry was initially based on terephthalate ester. With the development of improved oxidation and purification technologies, purified terephthalic acid, TPA, became available in commercial quantities by the mid 1960s. Over 75% of the worldwide PET manufacture (total world PET capacity is over six million tons/year) is currently based on TPA rather than DMT [4]. This preference for TPA results from the less complicated esterification catalysis and the absence of methanol handling when the acid is used directly. 

Indeed, the methanol industry all but abandoned support for the methanol fuel vehicle market it helped launch in 1988, as demand for MTBE consumed most of the world supply for methanol needed to produce it. At the end of the decade, the use of MTBE began to decline over concerns about water quality impacts, but ethanol use continues to grow at a steady pace. If making a market for agricultural products was a goal, we are increasingly successful. 

Methanol this is the core business. In 1999 it supplied 6.6 million tonnes of methanol (25% of the world demand) ... 

Table 3.19 World Methanol Supply/Demand Balance...

Use of Different Fuels and Their Characteristics - The best commercial, dry, low NOx combustors today are optimized for clean-burning natural gas. However, with raised natural gas prices over the next decade, power plants may be forced to burn low-heating value fuel gas, products of gasification or low quality residual fuels. As the combustion becomes more complicated, e.g. lean-premixed combustors, to handle NOx emissions from different fuels is bound to become more complex, too. Hence, development of the catalytic combustor must also be directed towards fuels other than natural gas. These fuels could be other hydrocarbon feedstock, e.g. diesel fuels,which are more available than natural gas in some parts of the world, and kerosene,which is used for jet-turbines in aeroplanes. An increased use of renewable fuels, such as methanol, ethanol and low-heating value fuels derived from biomass or waste will also lead to a demand to put these fuels to use in gas turbines. ... 

At present, three classical Winkler gasifiers are still operating throughout the world no new ones have been built for the past 25 years. The only commercial HTW gasifier so far was conceived as a demonstration plant for a coal throughput of approximately 30l/h and has been operating for several years now. The gas is used to produce methanol. Its coal throughput meets the demand of a 400 tpd methanol plant. Another HTW plant of the same size is currently under construction. 

Acetic acid (AA) is an important industrial chemical with many industrial uses and an annual worldwide demand of almost six million tonnes (Jane, 2(X)1). The industrial method based on the carbonylation of methanol (MeOH) is widely preferred for its manufacture, accounting for approximately 60% of the total world manufacturing capacity (PEP Report, 1994). Figure 9.9 outlines the AA production process by MeOH carbonylation. 

In other areas of the world, waste from the sugar industry (molasses), starch, waste lipids, alcohols such as methanol (Bourque et al. 1995) and especially lignocellulosic feedstocks are available in quantities that are appropriate for industrial process demands. 

About 90% of industrially produced methanol is converted in the chemical industry or used as solvent for synthetic applications. In addition, methanol has gained increasing importance as energy equivalent and fuel in recent decades. In 2012 the estimated annual world supply and demand of methanol is expected to rise to 62.1 X 10 t. 

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