Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
1
Methanol Production and
Markets: Past, Present, and Future
GREGORYA. DOLAN
Methanol Institute, Arlington, VA, USA
Methanol has a long proud history dating back to ancient times when
Egyptians formed it as a byproduct of charcoal fabrication from wood
(Crocco, 2002), which was then used to preserve mummies. Not much
changed in the intervening centuries to improve the process. In 1923,
world methanol production stood at just 30,000 tons (1 ton of
methanol contains 333 gallons), distilled from 3 million tons of
wood feedstock. In the same year, Matthias Pier of BASF produced
the first railcar load of synthetic methanol from a converted ammonia
loop. In post-World War II Germany, methanol was produced from
petroleum liquids and coal for fuel use. In the 1960s and 1970s,
companies such as ICI in the United Kingdom and Lurgi in Germany
began developing specialized catalysts for methanol synthesis from
natural gas in low-pressure processes. Over the next two decades, the
methanol industry would grow from a “captive” market with plants
located next to their downstream derivative (i.e., formaldehyde or acetic
acid typically) to a global “merchant” market, with methanol widely
exported around the world.
In 2011, world methanol demand topped 45 million tons (CMAI,
2011) and with 65% of this consumption being traded from one
continent to another, methanol is clearly one of the world's most widely
distributed chemical commodities. Owing to the steady growth of
