Equilibrium thermodynamic analyses of methanol production via a novel Chemical Looping Carbon Arrestor process

•A novel Chemical Looping Carbon Arrestor Reforming process has been developed.•Energy efficiency of the process is found to be ∼64–70%.•The process emits only about 0.14 mole of carbon dioxide per mole of methanol.•The process offers an efficient and low-emission option for methanol production.

Methanol economy is considered as an alternative to hydrogen economy due to the better handling and storage characteristics of methanol fuel than liquid hydrogen. This paper is concerned about a comprehensive equilibrium thermodynamic analysis carried out on methanol production via an innovative Chemical Looping Carbon Arrestor/Reforming process being developed at the University of Newcastle in order to reduce both energy consumption and carbon emissions. The detailed simulation revealed thermodynamic limitations within the Chemical Looping Carbon Reforming process however on the other hand it also confirmed that the new concept is a low energy requirement and low emission option compared to other methanol production technologies. Specifically, the mass and energy balance study showed that the Chemical Looping Carbon Reforming process typically consumes approximately 0.76–0.77 mole methane, 0.25–0.27 mole carbon dioxide, 0.49–0.50 mole water, and 0.51 mole iron oxide (in a chemical looping manner) per mole of methanol production. Moreover, the energy efficiency of Chemical Looping Carbon Reforming process was found to be ∼64–70% and its emission profile was found as low as 0.14 mole carbon dioxide per mole of methanol, which is about 82–88% less than the conventional methanol production process and well below the emission levels of other emerging methanol production technologies.