Published November 2023
Methanol is a large-volume commodity chemical and a major building block for industrial and consumer products. It is traditionally produced from fossil fuels, such as natural gas or coal. In 2022, the worldwide methanol capacity exceeded 140 million metric tons, with capacity expanding at an average rate of 4.4% over the past five years. Blue or low-carbon methanol is also derived from fossil fuel sources but uses a carbon capture and sequestration step to significantly reduce a manufacturing plant’s CO2 emissions. Blue methanol is expected to be increasingly used in the chemicals, petrochemicals, transportation and energy sectors, and power-to-X concepts as part of decarbonization efforts.
The Process Economics Program (PEP) last covered low-carbon methanol technologies based on natural gas and biomass feedstocks in PEP Report 43G Reduced Carbon Intensity and Renewable Methanol Production (December 2021). In this review, we present a comprehensive techno-economic assessment of the TrueBlue Methanol® technology developed by BD Energy Systems, LLC. This process uses the conventional steam methane reformer to produce synthesis gas but still lowers the carbon footprint by employing internally generated hydrogen as the primary fuel and incorporating pre-combustion CO2 capture. The economic assessment in this review is for a plant based at a US Gulf Coast location, with an annual production capacity of 1,810.5 million pounds of methanol (2,500 metric tons per day).
An iPEP Navigator® module, an Excel-based computer costing model developed by S&P Global Commodity Insights, is also attached with this review to allow quick calculation of the process economics in other major regions of the world. This review will be a valuable resource for planners, producers and designers who are looking for an authentic evaluation of capital and production costs for blue methanol production.