The current technical status of MTA

The technology for producing aromatics from methanol has just begun to be demonstrated on an industrial scale, and it will take some time before it can reach a stage of large-scale development.

Currently, some institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences are carrying out pilot tests.

Could you tell me which specific organizations are currently working on MTA?

Some people here are doing it as well, but it seems to be progressing slowly

Inner Mongolia Qinghua Coal Chemical Co., Ltd.’s 100,000-ton methanol-to-aromatics project. Article type: Project information. Date of addition: December 2, 2009, 15:50. Double-click to scroll automatically

Methanol to aromatics (MTA) technology Publication date: 2009-08-11 Publisher: Font I. Technical overview This technology belongs to the category of large-scale downstream conversion processes for methanol, with BTX (benzene, toluene, xylene) as the main target products. Using MoHZSM-5 (ion-exchange) molecular sieve as a catalyst and methanol as the feedstock, at T = 380–420°C, atmospheric pressure, and LHSV = 1 h-1, the methanol conversion rate exceeds 99%, the selectivity of the liquid-phase products is greater than 33% (on a mass basis of methanol), while the selectivity of the gas-phase products is less than 10%. The aromatic content in the liquid-phase product is greater than 60%. The laboratory catalyst screening and evaluation as well as repeated regeneration tests have been completed; the single-pass lifetime of the catalyst is greater than 20 days, with an estimated total lifetime of over 8,000 hours. The process research for this technology was developed in collaboration with the Second Design Institute of the Chemical Industry, and significant progress has been made. It is expected that by 2007, the engineering design and construction for industrial demonstration tests (10,000–100,000 tons of methanol per year) can be carried out. II. Main Raw Materials and Sources The main raw material is methanol, a product of coal chemical industry and natural gas chemical industry. Methanol synthesis technology is one of the most mature technologies in coal chemical and natural gas chemical industries. China currently has a methanol production capacity of around 7 million tons per year; additional capacity of 8 million tons per year is under construction, and another 20 million tons per year has been approved for development. By 2010, China’s total methanol production capacity could reach 35 million tons per year, while the actual consumption of methanol at that time is expected to be around 10 million tons per year. This will pose significant challenges for methanol production projects. Using this technology for the synthesis of aromatics represents one of the important alternatives for methanol utilization. III. Product Applications and Market The aromatic hydrocarbons produced by this technology are among the important basic petrochemical products. Due to the shortage of crude oil resources, a shortage of aromatic hydrocarbons in China is an inevitable reality; currently, the market gap for PX (p-xylene) alone amounts to over 5 million tons per year, and it is estimated that the overall gap for aromatic hydrocarbons will exceed 10 million tons by 2010. Once the technology for producing aromatics from methanol is matured, it will provide a market outlet for around 30 million tons per year of methanol. IV. Main Equipment and Total Investment The main equipment includes the methanol transfer system, methanol conversion reactor, aromatic extraction equipment, DCS control system, etc. V. Forms of technical cooperation: patent licensing.

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