THERMODYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF CARBON DIOXIDE CONVERSION TO METHANOL

Abstract

Carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas, is considered to be largely responsible for global warming. Over the last two decades, mitigation of CO2 emission has become an important area of research. One of the promising methods for mitigation of carbon dioxide emission is conversion of CO2 into useful products and fuels such as methane, methanol, synthesis gas, di-methyl ether (DME), hydrocarbons, formates, acids, formamides etc. Thermodynamic analysis is the first step in assessing the efficacy of any chemical reaction process for practical application. In the present study, thermodynamic analysis of synthesis of methanol from CO2 hydrogenation, dry reforming of methane and synthesis of methanol using dry reforming product was performed using the technique of Gibbs free energy minimization in MATLAB computation environment. Soave-Redlich-Kwong equation of state was used to model the real nature of reaction gases. Effects of pressure, temperature, and feed composition on conversion, selectivity and yield were investigated for each process. The conversion and product yields of the processes were compared to ascertain the suitable processes for practical application.