Methanol And The Energy Shortage - A Feasibility Study Of Manufacturing Synthetic Fuel From Available Energy Sources

Abstract

American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc. This paper was prepared for the 49th Annual Fall Meeting of the Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME, to be held in Houston, Texas, Oct. 6–9, 1974. Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words. illustrations may not be copied. The abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper is presented. Publication elsewhere after publication in the JOURNAL paper is presented. Publication elsewhere after publication in the JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY or the SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is usually granted upon request to the Editor of the appropriate journal provided agreement to give proper credit is made. provided agreement to give proper credit is made. Discussion of this paper is invited. Three copies of any discussion should be sent to the Society of Petroleum Engineers office. Such discussions may be presented at the above meeting and, with the paper, may be considered for publication in one of the two SPE magazines. Abstract Worldwide energy shortages, together with increasing demands for pollution free fuels has created a requirement for new energy sources. Large quantities of energy are available in the form of natural gas. The problem becomes one of transport from source to user location. This paper describes a method of solving the problem through conversion of the gas to Methanol. It outlines the features of a Methanol Plant, which might be established at a remote location together with the underlying economic considerations. Introduction The "energy crisis" has given new impetus to finding additional sources of energy for the future. This has caused renewed interest in the use of methanol as an energy source. Recent articles have predicted that methanol will even replace SNG (Synthetic Natural Gas) made from coal. Methanol has an immediate market as a sulfur free fuel, it is easily shipped, stored and handled in conventional steel equipment. Methanol as a basic commodity in the petrochemical industry is used to produce formaldehyde to be used in plywoods, and various resins, as well as other organic chemicals. A methanol plant purge gas is rich in hydrogen and plant purge gas is rich in hydrogen and may be used for metal refining, petroleum refining and sulfur recovery. petroleum refining and sulfur recovery. Methanol is also an effective gasoline additive for increasing octane number and eliminating lead pollutants. The synthesis of methanol from heavy hydrocarbon stocks via high pressure has long been established. pressure has long been established. Only recently have new and simple low pressure processes, utilizing natural gas pressure processes, utilizing natural gas stocks, been developed. The advent of these new low pressure plants has changed methanol from a specialty item to a commodity. Its value can thus be compared on a heating value basis with that of gasoline (Fig. 1). Coupled with these developments and the energy crisis, methanol production is expected to double in the next few years. (Fig. 2).