Name of Lecturer : Dr Jagan

Group : EH 220 5B

Case Study : Production of Methanol

No Name Student Id
1 Al-Akmal bin Kamaruzaman 2013861722
2 Muhammad Haziq bin Mohd Izhar 2013426214
3 Mohd Azizi bin Husaini 2013459734
4 Marlissa binti Azemi 2013815618
5 Siti Raihan binti Zakaria 2013665012
6 Syafiqah binti Abd Rahman 2013610506
7 Nur Fatin binti Abd Rashid 2013846372
8 Wan Nur Sahilah binti Wan Abdullah 2013434256
9 Norafiqah binti Jamaluddin 2013616666
THE REASONS WHY WE CHOOSE PRODUCTION OF METHANOL

The reasons why we choose production of methanol are due to the higher market demand in the
world. The table below shows the production of methanol annually in a few countries.

Table 1 – Production of methanol over the world

World 65 million tonnes

Europe 2.6 million tonnes

US 2.8 million tonnes

Middle East 14 million tonnes

S E Asia 4.8 million tonnes

China 35 million tonnes

South
10 million tonnes
America
 Sources from: Data from Methanol Market Services Asia, 2014.  Data (estimated) for 2013
http://www.essentialchemicalindustry.org/chemicals/methanol.html

Worldwide Methanol Applications

7% Methanal (Formaldehyde)
Ethanoic acid (Acetic acid)
10%
MTBE (Methyl tertiary-butyl ether)
30%
Methyl 2-methylpropenoate (Methyl
methacrylate)
7%
Methylamines
Chloromethane
2%
Dimethylbenzene-1,4-dicarboxylate
(Dimethyl terephthalate)
Petrol blending
14%
9% Biodiesel
Dimethyl ether
3% MTO and MTP (Methanol to olefins
1% 13% and Methanol to propene)
2% 2% Others

The largest production for methanol is used as a feedstock for the plastics industry. It is
used to make methanal and hence a variety of plastics, based on reactions with phenol,
carbamide (urea) and melamine. Then, methanol also used as original feedstock to produce
polymers such as the polyesters (e.g. Terylene) and poly(methyl-2-methylpropenoate) (e.g.
Perspex). Methanol is now the principal source for the manufacture of ethanoic acid. Besides
that, the methanol is used directly as a fuel in cars in China.

Figure 1 – Worldwide Methanol Application

Sources from: Data from Methanol Market Services Asia, 2014. Data (estimated) for 2013
http://www.essentialchemicalindustry.org/chemicals/methanol.html
PROCESS DESCRIPTION

The process of methanol production is known as ICI Low Pressure. This process consists
of three stages, reforming, compression and distillation which involve the use of Natural Gas.

Steam reforming : CH4 + H2O CO + 3H2

Shift reaction : CO + H2O CO2 + H2
Combustion : 2H2 + O2 2H2O

The first stage of methanol manufacturing process is produced in the reformer. Here, the natural
gas is combined with steam under heat pressure to produce synthesis gases, which are Hydrogen,
H2, Carbon Monoxide, CO and Carbon dioxide CO2. At the stage of reforming gas, the synthesis
gas and water will break down to their basic element. At the end of the process of reformer gas,
the reformed gas will produce which is consists of Hydrogen, Carbon Dioxide and Carbon
Monoxide. Chemical equation in Reforming Gas:

CO +¿ H2O → CO2+¿ H2

CO2+¿C → 2CO

Sources: (J.R.LeBlanc, Robert V. Schneider, III and Richard B. Strait, nd)

At the stage synthesis of methanol, the reformed gas will go through the Methanol Converter. In
this step, the reformed gas will react to each other to form a Methanol.

Chemical equation in Methanol synthesis:

2H2 + CO CH3OH

3H2 + CO2 CH3OH + H2O

Sources: (J.R.LeBlanc, Robert V. Schneider, III and Richard B. Strait, nd)

Catalyst carried out the production of crude methanol stream at about 80% methanol and 20%
water. . The methanol synthesis takes place in the presence of copper-based catalysts at 250-260
o
C.The crude methanol is then separated from the uncondensed gases and those gases are re-
circulated back again to the converter via the circulator.

One of the major advantages of the ICI Low Pressure Methanol Process is the excellent
selectivity of the converter catalyst and consequent low level of organic impurities. A simple
distillation system can thus achieve high efficiency without requiring high re-boil heat loads. A
single column distillation system is therefore provided. A part of the re-boil heat is provided by
the effluent gases from the methanol converter and effluent gases from the hydrolysis unit and
the rest is provided by saturated steam (Methanol Synthesis and Distillation, nd).

The conventional distillation unit consists of a topping and a refining section. The light
compounds present in the raw methanol are removed in the topping column. These would be
dissolved gases such as CO, CO2, H2, N2, and CH4 in addition to some aldehydes, ketones, and
dimethyl ether within temperature of 130 ℃ and pressure of 350 kPa (J.R.LeBlanc et al, nd). The
raw methanol, which consists of methanol and water is then fractionated in the refining section to
produce grade AA methanol.

Raw Materials:

 Methane gas
 Carbon monoxide
 Oxygen gas
 Hydrogen gas
Figure 2 – Process Flow Diagram (PFD) of ICI Low Pressure Methanol Systhesis