thyssenkrupp Uhde’s Senior Sales Engineer, Nithesh Mohun talks about the company’s proprietary AdWinMethanol® technology, an advanced technology capable of producing green methanol as a hydrogen carrier in quantities exceeding those of any currently available conventional technology.
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With South Africa moving towards renewable energy, the country’s abundance of sun and wind, and its large expanses of land are well-suited to a successful hydrogen economy.
Green hydrogen is not only a zero-carbon energy carrier, it is also an enabler and thus the basis for all other green technologies. It can be used to create a suite of products including green methanol, green ammonia, explosives, synthetic fuels and synthetic natural gas.
Nithesh Mohun, thyssenkrupp Uhde’s Senior Sales Engineeer, points out that getting green hydrogen to countries in Europe, for example, poses a challenge. He explains that gaseous hydrogen takes up more space than liquid hydrogen. “Transporting large quantities of H2 in gas form is not feasible and we therefore look to hydrogen carriers as an alternative. When we combine green hydrogen with carbon dioxide, we can produce green methanol (CH3OH), which is a feasible energy and hydrogen carrier.”
In addition to a solid knowledge platform in green hydrogen, thyssenkrupp Uhde has been active in the methanol process industry for many decades and owns world-class synthesis-gas generation technologies.
The company recently reinvented its methanol business by adding AdWinMethanol® technology to its portfolio. Mohun explains that this advanced technology can produce methanol in quantities exceeding those of any available conventional technology.
There are two main challenges around the use of renewable energy: The fluctuation of supply, and the often large distances between the locations of production and usersmust of renewable energy, which can cause considerable transmission losses. “These challenges can be overcome through energy storage and carrier solutions such as methanol. Methanol is highly suitable as a high-density energy carrier for providing the opportunity to store green energy as green fuel.”
Mohun unpacks the green methanol production process: Within thyssenkrupp Uhde’s methanol plants, hydrogen is produced via water electrolysis. The carbon dioxide required for the methanol synthesis can be sourced from a flue gas recovery unit or a biogas or bioethanol plant. Both gases are mixed and sent to the methanol synthesis section at a pressure of 60 to 80 bar. Reactor temperatures between 210°C and 270°C must be realised for the methanol reaction to progress.
Crude methanol is then purified in the methanol distillation section to achieve the required methanol specification.
thyssenkrupp Uhde’s methanol reformer technology is also available where there is a requirement to convert the methanol back to hydrogen. In the methanol reforming unit, a mixture of methanol and water is pressurised to approximately 20 bar, vapourised and then heated to a temperature of 250° to 360 °C. The hydrogen created is then purified to the required specification through the use of pressure swing adsorption (PSA).
“Our green methanol technology is suitable for generating all commercial capacities ranging from ten to multiple thousands of tons of CO2-based methanol per day,” Mohun concludes.
