UWA Methanol from Syngas Research & Development

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Methanol is an excellent hydrogen carrier. It can be easily manufactured from renewable resources, easily transported and stored in liquid form, and can be readily converted to hydrogen at the point of use or used directly as a clean and low-carbon transport fuel.The UWA Methanol from Syngas Research & Development project, led by Prof. Dongke Zhang FTSE, Director, Centre for Energy at The University of Western Australia and Anergy Pty Ltd., seeks to develop an innovative and miniaturised process technology for synthesising renewable methanol from biomass pyrolysis syngas and demonstrate the technology in a laboratory-scale pilot plant for engineering evaluation and process economic studies. With the development of robust catalysts and innovative reactors and the demonstration of the technology, the science base and technological foundation will be established, facilitating movement towards technology commercialisation.Key resultsThis project successfully built and commissioned a micro-tubular reactor for catalyst screening and reactor performance tests. The miniaturised methanol production as hydrogen carrier from biomass pyrolysis syngas is technically feasible and economically viable under the current demand-supply-cost combination but vulnerable to external and market conditions. A comprehensive handbook was developed which documents the fundamental knowledge of methanol catalystic synthesis, and a design toolkit for the development, design, construction and operation of the minituarised methanol synthesis plant.

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