(166c) One Stone Two Birds: CO2 to Methanol and Petrochemicals

Oil prices are making gasoline and naphtha production less attractive, and it is expected a net reduction in the long-term demand since new environmental friendly energy sources are becoming available and seem to be most attractive for the future generations. On another hand, the boom of Shale Gas set the path for the construction of new ethane crackers or the switch of flexible crackers to ethane, hence the available capacity of two main sub products from naphtha crackers and refineries will be substantially reduced, propylene and aromatics.

Technologies are available or evolving to fill this gap (i.e. Propane Dehydrogenation, Olefins Metathesis, Acetic Acid Hydrogenation) however these are not enough attractive by itself, an additional driver is needed to make new technology profitable and interesting; such is the case of Methanol. In recent years this product has been in the spotlight as a viable option to produce olefins and aromatics, i.e. in China where fuel resources come mainly from coal instead of oil and gas.

Improvement of catalysis to increase the selectivity to olefins or aromatics is making a great progress, but these processes are very demanding in terms of energy (i.e. better selectivity at high temperature or energy required for further separation.), this energy demand can be indirectly translated in a higher amount of CO₂ emissions which may become an obstacle for a further development of this alternative.

However, the chemical simplicity of Methanol makes it a flexible component, which can be produced from either fossil fuels or synthetic sources such as CO₂. Catalytic conversion of CO2 into Methanol using hydrogen is getting more attention and if this is feasible, the resulting synergy could be a simple solution for two different problems, the contribution for a sustained supply of aromatics and olefins with a positive environmental impact.

This paper presents pros and cons of this integration in terms of economic feasibility, environmental benefit.