Market prospects for methanol and dimethyl ether production from coke oven gas, as well as project details (repost)

Thread Content

1. Project Description: This project uses coker gas, a by-product of coking, as raw material, and employs advanced processes such as pure oxygen conversion of coker gas, low-pressure methanol synthesis, and gas-phase dehydration of methanol to produce dimethyl ether. The construction scope mainly includes production equipment and auxiliary facilities for processes such as coke oven gas purification, conversion, deep desulfurization, compression, methanol synthesis, methanol distillation, methanol storage tanks, dimethyl ether synthesis, dimethyl ether distillation, dimethyl ether storage tanks, foam fire stations, air separation oxygen pressure systems, flares, workshop power supply, and external piping systems. The rational utilization of coke oven gas can not only lead to the creation of new products, expand the industrial chain of the circular economy, and improve economic efficiency, but it can also reduce pollution and contribute to environmental protection. 2. Market Prospects (1) Market analysis of methanol: Methanol is a basic organic chemical raw material with a wide range of applications. In developed countries, its production volume ranks fourth, behind ethylene, propylene, and benzene. Starting from methanol, many chemical products can be manufactured. Methanol has such a wide range of applications that it is difficult to find any other organic compound with a similarly broad scope of use. The main downstream products of methanol that have been developed in China include: the oxidation of methanol to formaldehyde, the ammonolysis of methanol to methylamine, the carbonylation of methanol to acetic acid, the chlorination of methanol to chloromethane, dichloromethane, trichloromethane, and carbon tetrachloride, the dehydration of methanol to dimethyl ether, and the dehydration of methanol to methyl formate, which can then be used to produce formamide and dimethylformamide. Additionally, methanol is used to produce methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) and as a fuel. With the development of fine chemicals, the consumption of methanol will continue to increase, and particularly, the demand for high-purity methanol is set to see significant growth. Firstly, petrochemical technology is developing rapidly at present; two industrial facilities for producing ethylene from methanol and synthetic gasoline from methanol have already been put into operation. Compared to plants that produce ethylene from petroleum and refining facilities, the capital investment and operating costs are now roughly similar, which has broken through the traditional uses of methanol and further expanded its application areas. Secondly, the successful industrialization of the acetic acid production process via carbonylation using methanol as a raw material has opened up extremely broad prospects for the development of downstream products derived from methanol. Methanol is widely used in organic synthesis, and it is estimated that by 2008, the production and consumption of methanol for these derivatives will reach 270,000 tons. Furthermore, the rapid development of the construction industry both domestically and internationally has increased the demand for formaldehyde-based products, thereby expanding the methanol market. Methanol is also the most fundamental chemical raw material in C-1 chemistry, and it is a clean fuel. As an alternative energy source, methanol fuel will play a crucial role. Based on the world’s proven reserves of fossil fuels, current oil resources can be used for another 40–50 years, while natural gas can be utilized for 60–70 years. In 2010, China’s self-sufficiency in oil was only 71% of its consumption level. Over the next 10-15 years, China’s oil imports will account for 30-45% of its demand, and its reliance on foreign oil resources will continue to increase. Therefore, people are actively working to address the future energy crisis by investing heavily in research on \"clean fuel\" technologies. The technology of blending fuel with methanol is one such approach; it represents an effective way to overcome oil shortages and alleviate the imbalance between the supply and demand of secondary energy sources. With the development of automotive technology. The increasing addition of methanol and its downstream products to gasoline will lead to significant growth in the methanol market. In cities, exhaust pollution from cars has become a major source of pollution, and methanol is an ideal fuel for urban vehicles. The technological development of methanol as a fuel for cars will surely create opportunities for the growth of methanol, as well as favorable conditions for the development of the methanol industry. Due to the soaring global prices of natural gas and oil, large-scale methanol plants abroad have been forced to shut down or undergo modifications as a result of economic pressures. This has reduced the severe impact on the domestic methanol market, allowing it to recover fully; demand for methanol and its prices have begun to follow normal market patterns again. At present, most of the large-scale methanol production facilities in our country use natural gas as raw material. As the price of such raw materials rises, production costs become relatively high. China has abundant coal reserves, far exceeding those of oil and natural gas; therefore, with the development of coal gasification technology, a production route that uses coal and coke oven gas, which are relatively inexpensive, as raw materials for methanol production will surely become dominant. It can be said that the future market holds good development opportunities. (2) Market analysis of dimethyl ether Dimethyl ether (DME) is a colorless gas (boiling point: --23.7°C) with a slight ether-like odor. It is non-corrosive and non-toxic, and does not form peroxides upon prolonged exposure to air. Its main functions are as follows: 1) Alternative fuel for diesel vehicles. Due to the non-renewable nature of petroleum resources, the world is working on developing alternative fuels for future vehicles. In contrast, conventional alternative fuels for engines such as liquefied petroleum gas, natural gas, and methanol have a high cetane number and excellent compressibility, making them very suitable for compression-ignition engines ； By using DME fuel, there is no need for catalytic conversion in the exhaust system; the emissions of nitrogen oxides and soot particles meet the ultra-low emission standards for fuel-powered vehicles in California, USA. Additionally, engine noise can be reduced. Existing car engines can be modified slightly to use DME fuel. Our country has become a major automobile producer; in 2007, the annual production of automobiles in our country exceeded 5 million units, with the total number of vehicles in use reaching over 35 million. In recent years, the supply and demand imbalance for diesel in China has been prominent; if 5% of diesel consumption is replaced by DME, it is estimated that around 5.05 million tons will be substituted by 2010. As a vehicle fuel, DME helps alleviate the shortage of diesel in the country, offering broad market prospects. 2) As a civilian or commercial fuel, DME is easy to compress and store, and can replace gas and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as a fuel for domestic use. If DME is used as fuel alone, its pressure rating meets the requirements for liquefied gas; it can be filled in existing liquefied gas cylinders in a centralized manner, and the stoves can also be used interchangeably with those designed for liquefied gas. DME contains oxygen in itself, burns completely without producing carbon deposits or residues, and its combustion exhaust fully meets **health standards; it is an ideal clean fuel. DME can also be blended into city gas or natural gas in a certain proportion for peak-shaving purposes, and it can improve the quality of the gas as well as increase its calorific value. In addition to being used alone, mixing DME, methanol, water (which is present naturally as a byproduct of the methanol production and DME synthesis processes), and other components can result in the creation of a stable fuel – alcohol-ether fuel. DME is capable of generating the pressure required for supply in steel cylinders, and the calorific value of this fuel can be adjusted by changing the proportions of the various components. It was included among the key projects for promotion of scientific and technological achievements during the “Ninth Five-Year Plan” period; several production facilities have been built, but it falls short of DME liquefied gas in terms of safety and convenience of use. Since 1990, our country has been importing large quantities of LPG. As demand in the southern coastal areas grew rapidly, import volumes increased from 117,000 tons in 1990 to 4.82 million tons by 2000, with an average annual growth rate of 45%. It is estimated that by 2008, China’s LPG imports will reach 6.7 million tons, and by 2010 they will reach 9.5 million tons. If the price of DME is appropriate, and assuming it can replace about 30% of imported LPG, China will need approximately 2 million tons of fuel-grade DME in 2008. 3) Used for gas turbine power generation and distributed heat and power supply, DME can also be used as a fuel in combined cycle power generation units; combined power generation systems generally use syngas as fuel. When the generator is operating at low load, the syngas can be converted into DME products, which can then be stored easily for use during high-load periods or for export. 4) In the chemical industry, DME is used as an important raw material for synthesizing various chemicals: it can react with SO3 to produce dimethyl sulfate ； Alkyl halides can be synthesized by reacting with HCI ； Reaction with aniline can yield N,N-di**amine ； Reaction with CO enables the carbonylation to produce methyl acetate and acetic anhydride, which yield acetic acid upon hydrolysis ； Reacting with syngas in the presence of a catalyst to produce vinyl acetate ； Oxycarbonylation to dimethyl carbonate ； Reacted with H2S to produce dimethyl sulfide. Furthermore, DME can also be used to synthesize dimethyl sulfide, low-olefins, formaldehyde, and silicone compounds. 5) Other aspects: Many efforts are being made to develop DME as a substitute for chlorofluorocarbons as refrigerants or blowing agents. Special refrigerants are produced by combining DME with Freon; as the DME content increases, the cooling capacity improves and energy consumption decreases ； Abroad, foaming agents using DME for polystyrene, polyurethane, and thermoplastic polyester foams have been developed one after another. As a blowing agent, DME enables products such as foam plastics to have uniform pore sizes, as well as improved flexibility and pressure resistance. In recent years, sectors such as air conditioning and refrigeration as well as civil construction materials in our country have seen rapid development. Production and R&D entities have collaborated on innovation efforts to expand the application areas of DME. In summary, methanol and dimethyl ether have broad market prospects.