Process simulation for the production of methanol via CO2 reforming of methane route

Methanol is an essential chemical building block for the synthesis of numerous industrial products, and has the potential of becoming an alternative fuel. In this study, a simulation of methanol production process was carried out using Aspen Plus software. The process involves two stages, namely syngas production through the dry reforming of methane (DRM) in a reformer reactor and the actual methanol production by the conversion of the syngas obtained. Plug reactor unit operation was employed for the conversion of syngas from the DRM reactor to methanol. Thereafter, the influence of various operating parameters including DRM temperature, plug reactor specification temperature, and pressure effects was studied via the model analysis tool. A rundown of the optimal conditions obtained are DRM temperature of 1050 degrees C for better conversion of feed and minimal carbon deposit, CH4/CO2 ratio of 0.71, plug reactor constant temperature of 198 degrees C for optimum methanol yield (4600 kmol) for the given gaseous feed flow rates (5000 kmol/h methane and 7000 kmol/h CO2).