Bio Methanol Production via Chemical Looping Gasification Coupled with Membrane Reactors

Besides being an important chemical commodity, methanol is a multipurpose fuel that can be used directly in internal combustion engines, blended with other fuels or for producing fuel additives, which improve engine performance.

Methanol has great potential to be one of the selected low-carbon fuels for heavy road and transportation and marine freight. Technologies that are using methanol as fuel are gaining more momentum and attention globally.

However, two key issues may challenge the further uptake of methanol in energy systems: i) methanol is today produced from fossil resources, and ii) methanol is used mainly by chemical industries, leaving small room for the energy sector to count on it.

Bio-MeGaFuel is proposing a novel route that converts low value biomass to methanol via an intensified process with a minimum carbon footprint comparable to conventional methods.

Bio-MeGaFuel uses chemical looping gasification to produce clean syngas from biomass, and membrane reactor technology to directly produce methanol from syngas.

A key feature of Bio-MeGaFuel is the possibility to maximize the conversion of hydrogen and carbon (via CO2 recirculation) from biomass waste to methanol with the minimum number of process steps.

The process is based on the conversion of biomass waste aimed at increasing the capacity of biomethanol production in a sustainable way and addressing the increasing demand for biomethanol as a fuel. Bio-MeGaFuel is underpinned by technologies that are being developed to TRL 5 by an expert consortium.

Besides, it is backed by a strong reference group including the business leaders and market players in biomass supply, whole methanol production value chain, potential end users, and potential future players in the production, management, and distribution of biomethanol. This greatly ensures the quality of the research and appropriate exploitation of the results predicted in Bio-MeGaFuel.