![]() ![]() An important contribution to its development was by Paul Sabatier, who carried out the hydrogenation of a large variety of functional groups by metal-based catalysis. įrom an historic point of view, methanol production processes took place before the 1660s (by Robert Boyle). Products coming from methanol transformation.Ī number of technologies were developed over the years to produce methanol, including several feedstocks, such as natural gas, coal, and biomass or CO 2-the latter directly recoverable from the atmosphere. The remaining portion is converted into formaldehyde and other products, as illustrated in Figure 1. Īpproximately 65% of methanol worldwide is consumed for the production of acetic acid, methyl and vinyl acetates, methyl methacrylate (MMA), methylamines, metil-t-butil etere (MTBE), fuel additives, and other chemicals. In fact, most methanol-fueled vehicles currently use M85 fuel, which represents a mixture containing 85% methanol and 15% unleaded gasoline. In vehicle transportation, methanol can be mixed with conventional petrol, without requiring any technical modification to the vehicle fleet. It is also particularly useful in the chemical industry as a solvent and as a C1 building block for producing intermediates and synthetic hydrocarbons, including polymers and single-cell proteins. However, the key issues for wide hydrogen utilization as a new energy carrier are represented by its purification costs and by the difficulties linked to the infrastructure for its storage and transportation.īy contrast, methanol is easily stored and transported and can be used as a convenient hydrogen carrier. The use of hydrogen appears very promising, as it shows the highest energy content per unit of weight (142 kJ/g) over any other known fuel and, furthermore, it is environmentally safe. Today, the most viable options for the exploitation of fossil fuels for power production result from hydrogen and methanol. ![]() Moreover, fossil fuel exploitation is considered primarily responsible for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, contributing to the increase in global warming. These feedstocks are not renewable, are limited and, consequently, are responsible for an instable global market, which leads to a corresponding instability in fuel price. In the last century, fossil fuels represented the main source of energy production. The aim of this work is to propose an overview on the commonly used feedstocks (natural gas, CO 2, or char/biomass) and methanol production processes (from BASF-Badische Anilin und Soda Fabrik, to ICI-Imperial Chemical Industries process), as well as on membrane reactor technology utilization for generating high grade hydrogen from the catalytic conversion of methanol, reviewing the most updated state of the art in this field. Last but not least, methanol supply for direct methanol fuel cells is a well-established technology for power production. Furthermore, a wide range of literature is focused on methanol utilization as a convenient energy carrier for hydrogen production via steam and autothermal reforming, partial oxidation, methanol decomposition, or methanol–water electrolysis reactions. Indeed, methanol synthesis currently represents the second largest source of hydrogen consumption after ammonia production. Methanol is the simplest alcohol, appearing as a colorless liquid and with a distinctive smell, and can be produced by converting CO 2 and H 2, with the further benefit of significantly reducing CO 2 emissions in the atmosphere. Methanol is currently considered one of the most useful chemical products and is a promising building block for obtaining more complex chemical compounds, such as acetic acid, methyl tertiary butyl ether, dimethyl ether, methylamine, etc.
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