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Computer-Aided Process Intensification of Natural gas to Methanol Process
  • Mohammed Sadaf Monjur,
  • M. M. Faruque Hasan
Mohammed Sadaf Monjur

Corresponding Author:sadafmonjur@tamu.edu

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M. M. Faruque Hasan
Texas A&M University
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Abstract

The recent revolution in shale gas has presented opportunities for distributed manufacturing of key commodity chemicals, such as methanol, from methane. However, the conventional methane-to-methanol process is energy intensive which negatively affects the profitability and sustainability. We report an intensified process configuration that is both economically attractive and environmentally sustainable. This flowsheet is systematically discovered using the building block-based representation and optimization methodology. The new process configuration utilizes membrane-assisted reactive separations and can have as much as 190% higher total annual profit compared to a conventional configuration. Additionally, it has 57% less CO2-equivalent greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. Such drastic improvement highlights the advantages of building block-based computer-aided process intensification method.
06 Oct 2021Submitted to AIChE Journal
10 Oct 2021Submission Checks Completed
10 Oct 2021Assigned to Editor
13 Oct 2021Reviewer(s) Assigned
30 Nov 2021Editorial Decision: Revise Major
10 Dec 20211st Revision Received
26 Dec 2021Submission Checks Completed
26 Dec 2021Assigned to Editor
27 Dec 2021Reviewer(s) Assigned
16 Jan 2022Editorial Decision: Accept
Jun 2022Published in AIChE Journal volume 68 issue 6. 10.1002/aic.17622