Direct synthesis of dimethyl carbonate from CO2: From the perspective of dimethyl-carbonate, a promising material for the future

Abstract

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have grown and reached 33.9 Gt of CO2 equivalents in 2020. Its amounts have continuously increased since the industrial revolution, so, carbon capture and utilization and storage (CCUS) technology can mitigate CO2 emission and global warming. Dimethyl Carbonate (DMC) has attracted attention as it is used as a solvent in lithium-ion batteries. We proposed a modified process simulation based on the fractional converion of experiment of direct synthesis of the DMC using CO2. Also, to separate azeotropic mixture, ethylene glycol is used as an entrainer. We changed the feed of the CO2 and changed the design when CO2 feed is lower than stoichiometry ratio. Economic feasibility for all cases was evaluated using Aspen Process Economic Analyzer (APEA) V12. As a result, the total annual cost for the case 1, 2 and 3 is US 9.88 M$/yr, US 9.71 M$/yr and US 10.3 M$/yr, respectively. The Net Present value (NPV) for the case 1,2 and 3 is US − 51.6 M$, US − 56.66 M$/yr and US − 56.1 M$. Sensitivity analysis is performed to examine the effect of the NPV while changing the economic parameters such as utility cost and DMC selling price from − 30% to 30%. The most effective parameter of the NPV is the selling price of the DMC for case 1 and utility cost for case 2 and 3. A lower DMC selling price and solving deactivation problem of catalyst are the potential to develop the CCU technology.