Title:
Biomethanol Synthesis from Biomass Syngas with an Innovative LTA-Zeolite Membrane Reactor
Author(s):
Florio, C., Cerone, N., Contuzzi, L., Zito, G.D., Santilli, G., Caivano, A., Romanelli, A., Ragone, C., Villone, A., Carnevale, O., Zimbardi, F.
Document(s):
Paper
Abstract:
The valorisation of biomass gasification syngas represents a promising pathway for producing biofuels and bioenergy, supporting the decarbonization of various industrial sectors, particularly those that are hard to abate. Among the possible products, biomethanol stands out as a biochemical of great relevance due to its wide range of applications. However, biomethanol production from biomass-derived syngas must overcome two major challenges: the raw syngas typically does not meet the stoichiometric hydrogen-to-carbon oxides (H2/COx) ratio required for methanol synthesis, and methanol production is an intensive process with low single-pass yield, necessitating the recycling of unreacted streams. In the present work, a novel membrane reactor (MR) based on LTA zeolite has been tested for methanol (CH3OH) synthesis over starting from biomass gasification syngas enriched in H2 to meet the required stoichiometric H2/COx ratio. The reactor is designed to treat 0.25 Nm3/h of syngas and is filled with 0.76 kg of commercial CuO/ZnO/Al2O3 (CZA) catalyst for methanol synthesis. The membrane was synthetized by the hydrothermal method and are characterized by an ordered microporous structure (3 – 5 Å) to selectively remove the water produced during methanol synthesis. The experimental test was carried out at 250 °C and 3.5 MPa, introducing nitrogen (N2) as sweep gas into the lumen side of the membrane to remove the water permeated from the reaction zone. Methanol was recovered from the retentate flow using a cold trap while the gaseous outlet was analysed with a GC system. The methanol synthesis has been investigated in the LTA-zeolite MR at 250 °C, 35 bar and SN = 2 with a CH3OH production of 12.91 g and a yield of 15 % in a 76-minute test. Furthermore, the performance of the LTA-zeolite has been compared with a similarly designed conventional reactor equipped with an uncoated Al2O3 tube confirming the positive effect of water removal in methanol synthesis.
Keywords:
gasification, methanol, catalyst, biomass to liquid (BtL)
Topic:
Biomass Conversion to Intermediate Bioenergy Carriers and Sustainable Biofuels
Subtopic:
Biofuels and renewable hydrocarbon biofuels
Event:
34th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition
Session:
5AV.2.19
Pages:
798 - 801
ISBN:
978-88-89407-27-1
Paper DOI:
10.5071/34thEUBCE2026-5AV.2.19
Price:
FREE
