Research association E4MeWi develops sustainable and scalable process for methanol production

Berlin/Karlsruhe/Rostock/Bochum/Bitterfeld-Wolfen

24.11.2020

Methanol is produced with more than 100 million tons per year from fossil natural gas. With regard to the Paris Agreement, the CO2 emissions caused by the methanol production are unacceptable. The E4MeWi research project addresses this issue under the direction of CreativeQuantum: Over the next three years, an interdisciplinary team of chemists and engineers will develop a container-sized chemical plant that produces methanol from water, carbon dioxide and renewable energies in a highly efficient way. This will enable small and medium-sized companies as well as regional suppliers to produce methanol in a decentralized and environmentally friendly manner within a few years. The research association E4MeWi consists of the startups CreativeQuantum and INERATEC, as well as the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis, the Ruhr-University Bochum and the Chemical Park Bitterfeld-Wolfen. The project has been funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy with a total of 2.0 million euros since November 1, 2020 and for three years.

E4MeWi is the German acronym of „Energy-Efficient Renewable Energies based Methanol Economy“. The planned container-sized chemical plant shall demonstrate that methanol can be produced from sustainable sources by orders of magnitude faster and more energy-efficiently than before. A further goal of the consortium is to design the technology in such a way that methanol can be produced at competitive prices in places where cheap electricity meets local CO2 emissions. Thus, the vision of the E4MeWi partners could combine wind power and waste incineration plants or solar energy and biogas plants for a new added value. This could result in a sustainable raw material source for the chemical industry. The mobility sector is another target market for green methanol, which can be used as a fuel additive or for fuel cells.

CreativeQuantum, Dr. Alexander Janz, Mail: kontakt@e4mewi.de, Tel.: +49 (0)30 9599 911 88; LIKAT, Dr. Ralf Jackstell, Mail: ralf.jackstell@catalysis.de, Tel.: +49 (0)381 1281 128; INERATEC, Isabel Fisch, Mail: isabel.fisch@ineratec.de, Tel.: +49 (0)721 8648 4460; RUB, Prof. Ulf-Peter Apfel, Mail: ulf.apfel@rub.de, Tel.: +49 (0)234 3221 831; Chemiepark Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Max Fuhr, Mail: max.fuhr@chemiepark.de, Tel.: +49 (0)3493 720 18;

Goals achieved: E4MeWi research network tests sustainable and scalable processes for methanol production

Berlin/Karlsruhe/Rostock/Bochum/Bitterfeld-Wolfen

28.02.2024

The E4MeWi research association is currently demonstrating in a container plant at the Bitterfeld-Wolfen Chemical Park how effectively green methanol can be produced in the future. Methanol is regarded as a key (technology) for defossilizing shipping and aviation and also for freeing the chemical industry from its dependence on crude oil. The project compares two different promising process approaches in a container plant: INERATEC is starting with the established heterogeneous-catalyzed direct synthesis of e-methanol from green hydrogen and carbon dioxide (CO2). CreativeQuantum and the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis (LIKAT) are using a comparatively new, homogeneously catalyzed process. The synthesis gas required for this is to come from a new type of co-electrolysis developed by the Ruhr University Bochum. The homogeneously catalyzed process works at significantly lower temperatures and pressures. The project has been funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy with a total of around two million euros since November 1, 2020.

The aim of the project is to test the two processes for producing e-methanol in a container in an industrial environment at the Bitterfeld-Wolfen Chemical Park and to demonstrate their performance. Due to the use of renewable sources for green hydrogen, load flexibility and raw material efficiency are crucial. The homogeneously catalyzed process takes a completely new approach. „Thanks to the development of the highly specialized homogeneous catalysts, which began on the computer, we were able to reduce the reaction temperature from 260°C to 130°C with significant production rates and high selectivities. The required pressure of 80 bar was also more than halved. In addition, unlike the conventional process, 15% water is not produced as a by-product, which eliminates the need for energy-intensive separation,“ says Dr. Marek Checinski, Managing Director of CreativeQuantum GmbH and initiator of the consortium. The next major task is now to reduce production costs by using larger plants and larger catalyst quantities. After laying the foundations for the technology in 2017 and filing a patent application for the new process in 2018, the collaboration within the research project between CreativeQuantum and LIKAT, with Dr. Ralf Jackstell's team, focused on improving the catalytic system and the process conditions. The process was also scaled up further. This iterative process was significantly accelerated through the intensive exchange of quantum mechanical simulations and experiments. „In accordance with Leibniz ́ motto „Theoria cum Praxi“, we accompanied the process from the development of the catalyst synthesis on a laboratory scale to solvent optimization and upscaling,“ says Dr. Ralf Jackstell, topic group leader for „Applied Carbonylations“ at the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis. The working group of Prof. Dr. Ulf-Peter Apfel from the Ruhr University Bochum has been working with CreativeQuantum on the question: How can green synthesis gas be produced? This requires green electricity, water and carbon dioxide. Through systematic virtual screenings and selected experiments in the laboratory, the team was able to find new materials for catalysis that process CO2 and water simultaneously by means of co-electrolysis. The process was investigated from individual atoms to complex surface compositions. Prof. Apfel's team also drove reactor development through to the first high-performance cell. „Thanks to the close collaboration with CreativeQuantum, we were quickly able to develop new, robust catalyst systems and determine the reaction conditions with which we can now selectively convert CO2 to synthesis gas,“ says Prof. Ulf-Peter Apfel. The heterogeneously catalyzed process in this project was contributed by INERATEC. INERATEC's challenge was to scale down solid-state catalyzed methanol production by means of direct hydrogenation of CO2 in this pilot plant. In this process, CO2 and green hydrogen are converted into the target product methanol in a further step. Managing Director Dr.-Ing. Tim Böltken says: „In addition to e-fuels, we see synthetic methanol as an indispensable building block for a sustainable future in which we no longer need fossil raw materials. The successful production of sustainable methanol on this trial scale is a decisive step on our path. It lays a solid foundation for scaling up our pioneering technology. In line with thermodynamics, the next scaling level of the reactor technology has been demonstrated, laying a solid foundation for the global scaling of our methanol technology.“ Following successful test operation, the respective advantages of both processes in terms of the potential production costs of green methanol will be presented. Thanks to the active support of local partners such as Miltitz Aromatics and the Bitterfeld-Wolfen Chemical Park, it was possible to set up and successfully operate a combined plant in the chemical park within a short space of time. The integrated plant was designed and built by INERATEC with input from the project partners. The project was also supported by the economic advisory board of representatives from Linde, ThyssenKrupp and Clariant. E4MeWi stands for Energy-Efficient Renewable Energy-based Methanol Economy. In the shipping industry in particular, the shift towards an E4 MeWi can currently be clearly observed. Large shipping companies are already investing heavily in sustainable methanol mobility. The project partners are continuing to develop the E4MeWi technology in order to get it ready for the market as quickly as possible. E4MeWi stands for Energy-Efficient Renewable Energy-based Methanol Economy. In the shipping industry in particular, the transition to an E4MeWi can currently be clearly observed. Large shipping companies are already investing heavily in sustainable methanol mobility. The project partners are continuing to develop the E4MeWi technology in order to get it ready for the market as quickly as possible. Contact: Further information on the project and photos are available on the websitehttps://www.e4mewi.de dargestellt.

CreativeQuantum, Dr. Alexander Janz, Mail: kontakt@e4mewi.de, Tel.: +49 (0)30 9599 911 88; LIKAT, Dr. Ralf Jackstell, Mail: ralf.jackstell@catalysis.de, Tel.: +49 (0)381 1281 128; INERATEC, Isabel Fisch, Mail: isabel.fisch@ineratec.de, Tel.: +49 (0)721 8648 4460; RUB, Prof. Ulf-Peter Apfel, Mail: ulf.apfel@rub.de, Tel.: +49 (0)234 3221 831; Chemiepark Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Max Fuhr, Mail: max.fuhr@chemiepark.de, Tel.: +49 (0)3493 720 18;