Methanol production from natural gas reforming and CO2 capturing process, simulation, design, and technical-economic analysis

In this paper, a methanol production process with high thermodynamic efficiency and a low production cost is presented. The proposed process is based on steam methane reforming, in which carbon dioxide (CO2) captured from a power plant flue gas is employed to improve the stoichiometric number, methanol efficiency, and carbon efficiency and increase CO2 conversion. In addition to the sensitivity analysis, comprehensive technical, economic, and environmental analyses are performed. Furthermore, the obtained results of this paper are compared to those of previous studies. A parametric study showed that the optimum steam-to-methane ratio is 3.75, and the optimum flow rate for CO2 utilization is 140 kmol/h. From the economic point of view, it is demonstrated that the total annual cost is 11,799,484 USD, and the total production cost rate is 0.1 $/kg. The environmental analysis showed that the total net CO2 emission in this process is 6580.64 kg/h, and for producing 1 kg of methanol, 0.41 kg of CO2 is emitted.