Energy and Conversion Investigations of Different Process Configurations for Hydrogenation of CO2 into Methanol from Industrial Flue Gases

Abstract

Utilization of CO2 into sustainable energy carriers results into achievement towards near zero emissions level. Complementary with its environmental benefits, methanol becomes a virtuous candidate to make a profitable business by CO2 hydrogenation process. This study illustrates various process configurations: water removal and carbon capture by MEA absorption from industrial flue gases with evaluation of its effects on the methanol total conversion and energy consumptions. Our source of CO2 is from 349 t/h flue gases released from power plant using natural gas as burning source for producing electricity with a capacity of 122 MW while CO2 represents (15 %) of the total stream. Unconventional cheap source of hydrogen comes from chlor-alkali process as a by-product is proposed for hydrogenation. Modeling of this process is conducted with Aspen HYSYS® v8.6 simulation software (Advanced System for Process Engineering) which helps significantly to analyze the results. Sensitivity analysis is carried out to evaluate different parameters effect on the reactions and total productivity.