Green, Blue, Grey, or Brown—Pressure Relief Systems Considerations for Methanol in Decarbonization Processes

Market and governmental demand for decarbonization continues to grow, and it is only natural that our industry responds in kind by exploring and advancing the technologies that allow us to decarbonize. One technique in decarbonization is the production of methanol from H₂ feedstocks combined with captured CO₂. The idea of producing methanol on an industrial scale from these sources is not novel, but it is gaining additional popularity among organizations that use methanol as feedstock and that have vested interests in decarbonization. In practice, the technology is new to any engineer not previously familiar with it, and while it is composed of the same unit operations with which we are all familiar, it also presents hazards that we may not be familiar with, including those associated hazards we address in pressure relief system design. This poster/presentation will explore the special pressure relief system design considerations for different sections of brown, grey, blue, and green methanol production facilities. E.g., electrolysis, compression, synthesis, distillation, and storage.