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Pilot plant for methanol production via CO₂ hydrogenation passes evaluation Author/Source: Sinochem News Network Date: March 23, 2023 Clicks: 21 From March 13 to 16, the 5,000-ton/year two-stage low-energy-consuming pilot plant for methanol production from carbon dioxide (CO₂) hydrogenation, developed and constructed by Southwest Chemical Research and Design Institute Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Southwest Institute) in collaboration with Luxi Chemical Group Co., Ltd., passed a 72-hour evaluation. The pilot plant was successfully tested for the first time on January 16, 2023, after which it has been operating continuously and stably for over 1,000 hours to date. During the evaluation period, the operating load of the plant was maintained at 112%, with an average methanol production rate of 700 kilograms per hour. Under relatively low pressure and temperature conditions, all technical parameters exceeded the design specifications: the one-pass conversion rate of carbon dioxide was above 70%, the total conversion rate of carbon dioxide was above 98%, the overall selectivity for methanol was above 98%, and the ethanol content in the crude methanol was below 200 ppm. All these technical parameters are at an advanced level in China. This pilot plant utilizes the specialized catalyst XNC-316 developed by the Southwest Research Institute, along with a patented process for producing methanol from carbon dioxide through hydrogenation with low energy consumption. This catalyst exhibits good stability, addressing the technical issue of easy deactivation of catalysts. After more than 1,000 hours of operation, technical parameters such as the overall conversion rate of carbon dioxide, the overall selectivity for methanol, and raw material consumption remained stable, laying a solid foundation for industrial demonstration. Next, the Southwest Research Institute will further work on developing software packages for the process of converting carbon dioxide into methanol through hydrogenation on a scale of 100,000 tons per year. This will enable the creation of a set of technologies for this process that possess independent intellectual property rights, thereby contributing to energy savings, carbon reduction, and the recycling of carbon dioxide in industries such as petrochemicals and coal chemistry.