Pre-Design and Environmental Impact Analysis of Methanol Plant from Natural Gas with Dielectric Barrier Discharge Reactor

Abstract

In Indonesia, the demand for methanol reaches 1.1 million tons per year, with the majority being fulfilled through imports. The formaldehyde industry is the primary consumer, using 80% of the total methanol consumption. Increasing domestic methanol production has become crucial due to dependency on imports and the presence of only one producer with a capacity of 660,000 tons per year. The preliminary design of a low-emission methanol plant is a first step toward a more environmentally friendly methanol industry in Indonesia, aiming to reduce carbon emissions and dependence on fossil fuels. Methanol production at this plant results in the lowest possible carbon emissions, using raw materials such as methane gas, purified water, and helium. The methane gas is sourced from pure liquified natural gas (LNG) from PT Badak NGL, which has been purified from CO₂ and H₂S under operating conditions of -162°C and 1 bar pressure. Meanwhile, the purified water is obtained through seawater desalination processes. The reaction between methane and purified water occurs in a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor at 1 bar pressure, with helium as the inert gas. The plant's production capacity reaches 500,000 tons per year, with a purity level of 99.95% and zero greenhouse gas emissions. To achieve profitability comparable to conventional methanol, a minimum methanol selling price of $970/ton is required. When the carbon credit price is $1200/tCO₂, the methanol produced by this plant will be more profitable for investors compared to conventional methanol production or methanol production using carbon capture and utilization technology.