Analysis and optimization of a methanol reactor with the adsorption of carbon monoxide and water

Abstract Methanol is generally produced in adiabatic or Lurgi type catalytic reactors from syngas or pure carbon dioxide and hydrogen. In this research, an innovative methanol reactor is analyzed and optimized, because sorbents for the capture of carbon monoxide and water are used. In particular, zeolite molecular sieves having high SiO2/Al2O3 are used to capture carbon monoxide while zeolites 4A are implemented to adsorb water molecules. No sorbents for the capture of carbon monoxide are suggested before. In this system, the two reactions in methanol production are both favored, then it is possible to increase the methanol yield, reducing the outlet reaction temperature, compared to a traditional adiabatic reactor. An ANOVA analysis and a response surface methodology are also developed. Results show that the capture fraction is the most important factor with the aim to improve the methanol yield and to reduce the reaction temperature. Optimal operating conditions are found in order to have a nearly-isothermal system (493 K) maximizing the methanol yield (37%): the capture fraction, recycle of gases, inlet temperature and reaction pressure must be respectively equal to 80%, 79.7%, 493.32 K and 55 bar. In the future work, an experimental reactor can be realized to verify the obtained results.