Development of a process for methanol synthesis from CO₂ and H₂

As the result of fossil resources increasing scarcity, and geopolitical tensions due to energy supply securing, some countries are gradually moving to renewable and low carbon energy resources to reduce significantly their energy dependency. The electricity production from solar and wind energy are intrinsically responsible for intermittency issues that periodically lead to a gap between production and consumption. Transforming the unused excess of electricity production to chemicals may be an interesting solution for optimal exploitation of these resources. This thesis aims at investigating some means of developing new methanol process synthesis from CO₂ stemming from industrial sources and H₂ produced by the excess of electricity through water electrolysis. The envisioned methanol unit should be able to operate under variable regime. Initially, heat and mass transfer for two reactor technologies of methanol synthesis have been studied by using criteria described in literature. Then, a heterogeneous reactor model has been grounded in the results of heat and mass transfer analysis obtained previously. The reactor model was used to carry out a large parametric analysis of the reactor. In a second step, the reactor survey has been extended to the methanol loop to learn about the effect on the global reactor performances after its integration in the methanol loop. Once the phenomena involved in methanol process have been understood in steady regime, a transient model of the methanol loop has been developed and used to investigate the process dynamics such as the required time to start the process or to move from an operating state to another. The current and medium term electricity availability has been assessed in order to estimate the number of transitions per year undergone by the methanol unit. Based on these observations, reactor designs and operating strategies have been suggested so that they lower the impact of transitions on methanol unit. A whole chapter has been dedicated to evaluate some alternatives to develop and to improve the process of methanol synthesis. Some reactor designs have been suggested and their ability to convert hydrogen to methanol has been simulated. Although the reactor design proposals are only at the concept stage, some of them arouse more interest, and merit further evaluation. Finally, a decision support tool has been presented and used to choose the most appropriate reactor technology for the process of methanol synthesis. (author)