Abstract:
Methanol is an important chemical feedstock for the chemical, pharmaceutical, and electronics industries. This thesis focuses on investigating the effects of ethanol in the production of methanol from CO2 hydrogenation in the presence of ethanol in a gas-phase fixed-bed reactor. The study of the effects of ethanol was divided into three main steps: the investigation of reaction pathways, the examination of factors affecting methanol production, and equilibrium calculations using the Aspen Plus program. The study was based on the hypothesis that adding ethanol to the production of methanol from CO2 hydrogenation would improve methanol production at lower temperatures. The results showed that adding ethanol to the process altered the reaction pathway, leading to the formation of ethyl formate as an intermediate for methanol production. The temperature study revealed that lowering the temperature improved CO2 hydrogenation to ethyl formate, as well as the hydrogenation of ethyl formate to methanol and ethanol, increasing efficiency. This also helped reduce side reactions. It was hypothesized that the ethanol added interfered with the active sites on the catalyst, preventing CO hydrogenation from occurring efficiently at temperatures of 200 and 230°C. Moreover, the study on the effect of increasing space velocity found that %CO2 conversion and %yield of methanol decreased because the contact time between the reactants and the catalyst sites was reduced, limiting the time available for complete reaction. Furthermore, less ethyl formate was produced. It was assumed that the hydrogenation of ethyl formate to methanol and ethanol occurred rapidly at the specified space velocity. The results also showed that reducing space velocity at 200 and 230°C enhanced the efficiency of CO hydrogenation. The study on the effect of increasing the molar ratio of ethanol to carbon dioxide suggested that this would increase %CO2 conversion and %yield of methanol. The experimental results at a space velocity of 296 hr-1 for CO2 hydrogenation and ethyl formate showed that adding ethanol to the reaction increased ethyl formate production. However, if the ethanol proportion were increased excessively, it would limit methanol production. Additionally, the study on changes in the molar ratio of ethanol to carbon dioxide under varying concentrations of reactants showed that increasing the concentration of carbon dioxide and hydrogen, in the absence of ethanol, resulted in lower %CO2 conversion and %yield of methanol compared to cases with ethanol, indicating a slower reaction rate. The results suggested that ethanol acted as a catalytic solvent.