Technical and Environmental Analysis of Methanol Synthesis from Solid Recovered Fuel and Lignite

The purpose of this work was to perform a technical and environmental analysis of methanol production from solid recovered fuel (SRF) and lignite feedstocks. The main driver was to ensure that while pursuing the dual goal of improving security of supply within the EU and reducing carbon dioxide emissions from the power and transport sector, other environmental issues were not engineered into the system, and to provide recommendations to improve the process sustainability.
The technical analysis was carried out using the inhouse ECLIPSE software and SimaPro was used for the environmental assessment. Data for the modelling was supplied by project partners, supply companies, databases, and literature where necessary.
The results showed that increased SRF in the feedstock mix, decreased the environmental impact of methanol production, however, the environmental impact was greater than the natural gas reformer used for benchmarking. The sensitivity study considered off-gas thermal recovery and carbon capture, which for the 80% SRF, the impact was less than the natural gas reformer.
It was concluded that SRF mixed with lignite to produce methanol could achieve the dual goal, providing off-gas recovery and carbon capture was employed. Other recommendations include considering onsite renewable electricity generation for process electricity.