The Methanol Plant

Abstract

Having now covered all the major topics of chemical engineering, we will put this knowledge together to follow in more detail one of the two processes we first considered in Chapter 1, the production of methanol from natural gas, oxygen and steam. Use four detailed process flow diagrams we will follow the path of the natural gas as it enters the process, is dried, compressed, cleaned of sulfur and then saturated with steam. The natural gas and steam will then be combined with oxygen in the two reformers to produce synthesis gas, a mixture of hydrogen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. We will follow the path of the synthesis gas as it is cooled in a series of heat exchangers before being compressed and sent to the methanol reactor. The methanol and steam created in the reactor will then be separated from the unreacted synthesis gas before being refined to produce the pure methanol product. Drawing on the knowledge gained in the earlier chapters of the book we will follow the entire process to understand what each item of process equipment does, and how the process will operate under normal conditions.