Optimization of methanol yield and carbon dioxide utilization in methanol synthesis process

Abstract

The method of CO2 hydrogenation to methanol can effectively reduce carbon emission and has wide application prospects in chemical industry and environment. Therefore, methanol synthesis is an important way to save energy, reduce emission and transform energy utilization. In this paper, the mathematical model of methanol synthesis reactor is established. Under the condition of controllable cooling temperature, the optimization is carried out with maximum methanol yield and CO2 utilization rate. The results show that the methanol yield can be increased by 6.57% and CO2 utilization rate can be increased to 39.1% by adjusting the cooling temperature control strategy. The comparative study found that the optimal cooling temperatures all show up and down variations, with local minima and maxima. In addition, an industrial application method of methanol yield maximization cooling strategy is proposed. When the stage cooling at different temperatures is adopted, the methanol yield could be increased by 5.38%.