Abstract |
The paper discusses the development of the Carnol process, a carbon dioxide (CO2) mitigation process that converts waste CO2, primarily recovered from coal-fired power plant stack gases, with natural gas to produce methanol as a liquid fuel and coproduct carbon as a materials commodity. The Carnol process chemistry consists of methane decomposition to produce hydrogen which is catalytically reacted with the recovered waste CO2 to produce methanol. The carbon is either stored or sold as a materials commodity. A process design is modeled, and mass and energy balances are presented as a function of reactor pressure and temperature. The Carnol process is a viable alternative to sequestering CO2 in the ocean for purposes of reducing CO2 emissions from coal burning power plants. |