Methanex plans to use CCS in grey methanol production

Canadian methanol supplier Methanex wants to deploy carbon capture technology at its methanol facility in Medicine Hat, Alberta in Canada.

PHOTO: Methanex methanol facility in Medicine Hat, Alberta in Canada. Methanex

It has partnered with carbon tech firm Entropy to study the feasibility of using Entropy’s post-combustion carbon dioxide (CO2) capture technology during methanol production.

Methanex produces around 600,000 mt/year of grey methanol at its Medicine Hat facility. The company plans to integrate the CO2 capture technology into its overall production process to produce low-carbon methanol.

Methanol is typically produced from natural gas through steam methane reforming. In this process, natural gas is heated with steam to produce syngas, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. The syngas is then converted to methanol via catalytic reactions.

The project aims to capture around 400 mt/day of CO2 during the production of grey methanol.

A portion of the captured CO2 will be used to produce an additional 50,000 mt/year of methanol. The hydrogen feedstock for this methanol production will be derived from natural gas, while the remaining CO2 will be permanently stored in underground facilities.

Entropy will construct and own the capture equipment, and Methanex will operate it once it is commissioned.

Grey methanol ≠ emission reduction

Methanex supplies some of its grey methanol for bunkering in the ports of Houston, Ulsan, Taicang, Rotterdam and Gothenburg. The bunkering is carried out by its subsidiary Waterfront Shipping.

However, grey methanol cannot be used to reduce a vessel’s emissions. According to a report by Longspur Research, grey methanol produces 1.14 mt of CO2 per mt (mtCO2/mt) of fuel, whereas VLSFO emits 1 mtCO2/mt of fuel. This means grey methanol emits 14% more CO2 than VLSFO.

As a result, methanol-capable vessels must bunker green methanol (0.05 mtCO2/mt of fuel) to achieve emission reductions.

Methanex also claims it is exploring the use of renewable electricity to produce green hydrogen at two of its facilities in Geismar, Louisiana in the US and Egypt. However, its Canadian facility is currently using natural gas as a feedstock for methanol production, according to its sustainability report.

By Konica Bhatt

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