Air Products & Chemicals Inc. and Eastman Chemical Co. have begun building a demonstration plant to produce 260 tons/day of methanol from coal derived synthesis gas.
The plant is being added to Eastman's Kingsport, Tenn., site. Test operations at the new plant are due to begin in December 1996.
Eastman will use some of the product on site as a chemical feedstock and the rest off site as an alternative fuel for power generators and vehicles.
In laboratory tests, the methanol will be analyzed as a suitable feedstock for methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), a gasoline octane enhancer.
The Department of Energy is cosponsoring the project under its Clean Coal Technology Program (OGJ, June 19, p. 26).
THE PROCESS
DOE said the unique feature of the liquid phase methanol synthesis process is that it converts coal derived synthesis gas to methanol in a single vessel containing catalyst particles suspended in mineral oil. By contrast, conventional technology sends the synthesis gas through a fixed bed of dry catalyst particles.
DOE also said the liquid phase process is better suited for processing the gases from modern day coal gasifiers, it offers greater stability and heat dissipation in the conversion process, and the methanol product can be used as a fuel without further upgrading.
"In future commercial facilities, advanced coal to methanol processes may be a cost enhancing option for coal gasification based power plants," DOE said.
Rather than continually producing electricity, those plants could make methanol as a coproduct during times of low power demand, allowing gasifiers to operate at a steady peak.
The Kingsport project also may demonstrate production of dimethyl ether as a coproduct with methanol if laboratory and pilot scale research show promising results. In a storable blend with methanol, the mixture can be used as a peaking fuel in gasification based power generation.
Dimethyl ether also can be used to increase the vapor pressure of methanol, making it suitable for use as a diesel engine fuel, DOE said.
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