Biomethanol Production from Organic Waste Materials

Abstract

Methanol is mainly manufactured from natural gas, but biomass can also be gasified to methanol. Methanol can be produced from hydrogen-carbon oxide mixtures by means of the catalytic reaction of carbon monoxide and some carbon dioxide with hydrogen. Biosynthesis gas (bio-syngas) is a gas rich in CO and H₂ obtained by gasification of biomass. Biomass sources are preferable for biomethanol than for bioethanol because bioethanol is a high-cost and low-yield product. This is a promising alternative, with a diversity of fuel applications with proven environmental, economic, and consumer benefits. A mixture of gases from organic waste materials is converted to methanol in a conventional steam-reforming/water-gas shift reaction followed by high-pressure catalytic methanol synthesis.

Keywords:

• biomass
• biomethanol
• biosynthesis gas
• gasification
• pyrolysis