COMMERCIAL-SCALE DEMONSTRATION OF THE LIQUID PHASE METHANOL (LPMEOH) PROCESS
This project, which was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under the Clean Coal Technology Program to demonstrate the production of methanol from coal-derived synthesis gas (syngas), has completed the 69-month operating phase of the program. The purpose of this Final Report for the ''Commercial-Scale Demonstration of the Liquid Phase Methanol (LPMEOH{trademark}) Process'' is to provide the public with details on the performance and economics of the technology. The LPMEOH{trademark} Demonstration Project was a $213.7 million cooperative agreement between the DOE and Air Products Liquid Phase Conversion Company, L.P. (the Partnership). The DOE's cost share was $92,708,370 with the remaining funds coming from the Partnership. The LPMEOH{trademark} demonstration unit is located at the Eastman Chemical Company (Eastman) chemicals-from-coal complex in Kingsport, Tennessee. The technology was the product of a cooperative development effort by Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (Air Products) and DOE in a program that started in 1981. Developed to enhance electric power generation using integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) technology, the LPMEOH{trademark} Process is ideally suited for directly processing gases produced by modern coal gasifiers. Originally tested at the Alternative Fuels Development Unit (AFDU), a small, DOE-owned process development facility in LaPorte, Texas, the technology provides several improvements essential for the economic coproduction of methanol and electricity directly from gasified coal. This liquid phase process suspends fine catalyst particles in an inert liquid, forming a slurry. The slurry dissipates the heat of the chemical reaction away from the catalyst surface, protecting the catalyst, and allowing the methanol synthesis reaction to proceed at higher rates. The LPMEOH{trademark} Demonstration Project accomplished the objectives set out in the Cooperative Agreement with DOE for this Clean Coal Technology project. Overall plant availability (defined as the percentage of time that the LPMEOH{trademark} demonstration unit was able to operate, with the exclusion of scheduled outages) was 97.5%, and the longest operating run without interruption of any kind was 94 days. Over 103.9 million gallons of methanol was produced; Eastman accepted all of the available methanol for use in the production of methyl acetate, and ultimately cellulose acetate and acetic acid.
- Research Organization:
- Air Products Liquid Phase Conversion Company, L.P. (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FC22-93PC90543
- OSTI ID:
- 823132
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 1 Jun 2003
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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