Progress on the construction of the green methanol production project via carbon dioxide hydrogenation at Anyang Shunli Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd

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Progress of the project on producing green methanol from carbon dioxide hydrogenation by Anyang Shunli Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd. Author/Source: Coal Chemical Industry Date: October 28, 2021 Page views: 14 Recently, Hangzhou HollySys Automation Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of HollySys Group, successfully signed a contract with Anyang Shunli Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd., which is under Henan Shuncheng Group, for the project involving the production of green methanol from carbon dioxide hydrogenation. Upon completion and reaching full capacity, the project is expected to make comprehensive use of 360 million cubic meters per year of coke oven gas to produce 110,000 tons per year of methanol and 70,000 tons per year of LNG, while reducing CO₂ emissions by 44 million cubic meters per year. It offers significant economic, social, and environmental benefits. Hangzhou HollySys Automation Co., Ltd. provides an integrated solution for the entire process of joint plants, incorporating DCS+SIS+AMS+ODS+CCS+GDS systems, thereby offering solid support for users to achieve integrated control, management, and operation of process plants and related systems. This project represents the first application of an independently developed control system in a CO₂-based green methanol production facility, and it marks another significant achievement for Hollyland in the chemical industry. The project was funded and constructed jointly by Geely Technology Group Co., Ltd., Henan Shuncheng Group Coal and Coke Co., Ltd., Mifelong (Shanghai) Environmental Engineering Technology Co., Ltd., Henan Shunju Energy Technology Co., Ltd., and Anyang Shunfeng Chemical Trade Co., Ltd. The project uses the coke oven gas generated by Shuncheng Group as raw material to produce methanol and, concurrently, LNG, which can significantly reduce air pollution caused by the enterprise and enable the high-value comprehensive utilization of resources. Upon completion, the project will be the first industrial production facility in China to use carbon dioxide hydrogenation for methanol production. It will serve as a significant model for promoting the adoption of this technology in China, and it holds important practical value for helping the country explore new carbon reduction technologies and advance the development of the \"methanol economy\". The technology of hydrogenating carbon dioxide to produce methanol can provide a cleaner raw material than coal, thereby reducing global greenhouse gas emissions as well as local air and water pollution. Recover hydrogen and syngas from industrial production to increase product value and reduce carbon emissions. I. Development of foreign processes for producing methanol from carbon dioxide via hydrogenation. In 2009, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation in Japan invested $16 million to build the world’s first pilot plant for producing methanol from carbon dioxide using hydrogenation, with a capacity of 100 t/year; this plant was successful, but it was not put into commercial operation thereafter. Currently, the only commercially operating carbon dioxide hydrogenation-to-methanol project in the world is operated by Carbon Recycling International (CRI) in Iceland, which extracts carbon dioxide from industrial emissions and then synthesizes methanol from it. The company began researching and developing the hydrogenation of carbon dioxide to produce methanol in 2008. By 2012, its methanol production capacity reached 1,300 tons, and in 2014, it was expanded to 4,000 tons. Green methanol is produced by companies using hydrogen derived from renewable energy sources or hydrogen generated as a by-product of the chemical industry, which is then combined with carbon dioxide to create methanol as a substitute for gasoline and diesel fuels, thereby achieving nearly zero carbon emissions in transportation energy. The ongoing expansion project of the Fairway Methanol joint venture in the United States in 2021, which involves a capacity of 1.3 million tons of methanol per year, uses recycled carbon dioxide as a raw material for methanol production. Once completed, the methanol production facility will have a capacity of 1.62 million tons per year, with 180,000 tons of carbon dioxide being consumed annually. The hydrogen used in production is obtained from the regional industrial power grid, and the cost of producing methanol from recycled carbon dioxide is comparable to the current normal cost of producing methanol from natural gas. Among the overseas technologies that can be used in commercial applications, the ETL technology developed by the Icelandic Carbon Recycling Institute (CRI) is relatively advanced. This technology converts renewable energy-generated electricity and carbon dioxide into methanol, thereby creating a low-carbon fuel for transportation – an effective solution to this issue. This technology enables the collection of carbon, which is then used together with hydrogen and oxygen to produce methanol; when methanol burns, it reverts back into carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, thus creating a circular and continuous supply of green clean energy. II. Current status of the application of CO2 hydrogenation to produce methanol in China
Since 2016, institutions such as the Institute of Coal Chemistry at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanxi and the Shanghai Advanced Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have been engaged in research and development related to CO2 hydrogenation for methanol production. However, the only company with concrete plans for commercial investment is Anyang Shunli Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd. Its project involving the production of 110,000 tons of methanol per year and 70,000 tons of LNG per year through CO2 hydrogenation commenced in July 2020, with plans to become operational by the end of 2021. Taking the Shuncheng Group’s project on hydrogenation of carbon dioxide to produce methanol as an example, the company uses carbon dioxide captured from industrial waste gases emitted by the group’s coking plants and lime plants as the primary carbon source. Carbon dioxide is absorbed via an ammonia-based process, while hydrogen generated as a by-product of coke oven gas is utilized in the reaction to synthesize methanol. Upon completion, the project will absorb 160,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, resulting in an indirect reduction of around 600,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually. III. Future prospects for the technology of producing methanol from carbon dioxide via hydrogenation. Advantages of this technology: It provides a cleaner feedstock than coal, helping to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions while simultaneously minimizing pollution of local air and water sources. Secondly, hydrogen and syngas are recovered from industrial production and reacted with carbon dioxide to produce methanol, thereby increasing the value of the products and reducing carbon emissions. Problems exist: Current catalysts for the production of methanol from carbon dioxide and hydrogen suffer from low conversion rates and selectivity. Taking the Henan Shuncheng facility as an example, the total investment for the first phase of this 110,000-ton per year low-carbon methanol production plant is approximately 700 million yuan. Compared to traditional methods, it has a higher cost. Methanol production from carbon dioxide via hydrogenation, as a new technology, requires **support and incentives. It is recommended to **introduce policies encouraging the use of clean fuels, such as increasing taxes on carbon dioxide and PM2.5 emissions, and facilitating the approval process for capital investment projects.**