South Korean duo to build biogas-based methanol plant

South Korean renewable energy company Biofriends has partnered with biogas producer Cheongmyeong to jointly develop the country’s first biogas-based methanol production plant.

IMAGE: Illustration of a biomethanol plant. ENGINE via Perplexity AI

Under the partnership, the companies plan to build and operate a plant that will produce 60,000–80,000 mt/yr of biomethanol. The facility will use around 120,000 Nm³ (normal cubic metre) of biogas generated daily from the biogas digester at its Gunsan plant as feedstock.

The production range was determined after a feasibility study, which assessed potential output between 45,000 and 100,000 mt/yr.

The produced biomethanol will initially be supplied as an eco-friendly fuel for “domestic methanol-powered vessels.”

This is expected to strengthen the competitiveness of South Korea’s shipbuilding and shipping industries, while also supporting its GHG reduction targets, according to Biofriends.

In addition, a portion of the biomethanol will be converted into DME (Dimethyl ether) to be used as an LPG-DME blended fuel.

“The core of this project lies in the Carbon Capture & Utilization (CCU) process, which converts biogas methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) together to create synthesis gas (syngas), which is then converted into methanol,” Biofriends chief executive Cho Won-jun said.

By Tuhin Roy

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