Co-production of hydrogen and methanol using fuel mix systems: Technical and economic assessment

With the increase in global energy requirements, the utilization of fossil fuels has also increased, which has caused global warming. In this study, a process integration framework based on an energy mix system is proposed to simultaneously produce two cleaner fuels (methanol and H₂). Aspen Plus is used to develop process models followed by their techno-economic assessment. Case 1 is considered the base case process, where the coal–biomass gasification process is used to produce the synthesis gas, which is further converted into H₂ and methanol. Conversely, the case 2 design represents the novel process configuration framework, where the coal–biomass gasification technology in case 1 is sequentially integrated with the methane reforming technology to minimize the energy penalties while increasing the net fuel production. To perform the technical analysis, the fuel production rates, carbon conversion efficiencies and specific energy requirements are compared for both models. It is analyzed from the results that the case 2 design offers higher methanol and H₂ production rates with lower energy requirements. Additionally, the specific energy requirement for case 2 is 29% lower compared to the case 1 design, leading to an increase in the process efficiency of case 2 by 3.5%.