On December 26, Hydrogen Qifu.com and Southwest Chemical Research and Design Institute successfully held the "2023 China Hydrogen-based Energy Green Methanol Symposium" to jointly develop a new direction of green methanol for hydrogen-based energy and provide new ideas for achieving the dual carbon goal.
The exchange meeting was carried out in the form of "online + offline" webinars, and was broadcast live at the same time.
Hu Zhibiao, Deputy Director of the R&D Department of the Catalyst Division of Southwest Chemical Research and Design Institute, Wang Zhen, Director of the Technology R&D Center of the Fuel Cell Division of the 712th Research Institute of China Shipbuilding Group, Zu Jingru, Process Engineer of ENRIC (Langfang) Energy Equipment Integration Technology Center, and other guests from other enterprises attended the event.
Tu Siyu, deputy general manager of Beijing Yunqi Technology and general manager of the southwest headquarters of Hydrogen Future Network, served as the host.
Hu Zhibiao, deputy director of the R&D Department of the Catalyst Division of the Southwest Chemical Research and Design Institute, first shared the theme report of "Carbon Dioxide Hydrogenation to Alcohol Technology of Southwest Research Institute".
In the report, Director Hu Zhibiao introduced the research and development background and foundation, technical progress, technical and economic analysis, and industrial application of carbon dioxide hydrogenation to alcohol technology of Southwest Chemical Research and Design Institute, and proposed that green hydrogen is a key link to achieve carbon emission reduction, and CCU is an important way to achieve carbon emission reduction. In terms of technological development, hydrogen energy, carbon dioxide capture, efficient utilization of carbon resources, and chemical process technology need to be coupled.
After the report, Director Hu Zhibiao interacted with the audience and answered the following questions:
Q: What is the range of catalyst costs?What is the approximate proportion of the cost of hydrogen to methanol?
Answer: The cost of copper-based catalysts is currently in a relatively reasonable range, which is similar to the current synthetic catalysts for industrial applications, and accounts for a relatively low proportion of the cost composition of hydrogen to methanol, which can be basically ignored.
Q: In which scenarios does green methanol currently bring a green premium to downstream consumption?
A: Green methanol will bring a better green premium in the future transportation field, especially shipping.
Subsequently, Wang Zhen, director of the Technology R&D Center of the Fuel Cell Division of the 712th Research Institute of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, gave an online speech on the theme of "Progress of Marine Fuel Cell System Based on Methanol Fuel" in the exchange meeting.
Director Wang Zhen introduced the progress of marine combustion battery system based on methanol fuel, including the significance of methanol fuel and other power devices in shipping, the traditional fuel cell system of methanol fuel and the typical case of methanol fuel cell ships.
In the exchange and interaction session, Director Wang Zhen answered the questions raised by the audience
Q: What technological breakthroughs have been made in marine fuel cell systems based on methanol fuel?What technical challenges still need to be solved?
Answer: At present, there are no major technical obstacles to the large-scale promotion and development of alcohol reforming hydrogen production technology, and key technologies such as high-efficiency and durable catalyst technology, high-efficiency reforming reactor technology, CO selective oxidation technology, hydrogen purification technology, etc. have achieved breakthrough development. In the field of shipbuilding, it is necessary to further carry out technical research on the safety, miniaturization, and marine compliance of methanol reforming hydrogen production units.
Q: What is the current situation of methanol fuel production and ** chain?How to ensure the sustainability of methanol fuel**?
A: In 2019, the global methanol production capacity was about 1500 million tons, of which China's production capacity is about 88 million tons, accounting for more than 58%. Whether in terms of production, distribution, or even future bunkering, methanol is well available as a marine fuel.
The European methanol market** is close to marine light diesel, and there are still certain advantages over marine light diesel in the second half of 2019. China's gray methanol market** is slightly higher than that of Europe, and it does not have a competitive advantage compared to marine light diesel. According to relevant reports, it is estimated that the synthesis of methanol (green methanol) from green electricity is about 10 times that of conventional fuels. As a result, electric fuels are currently completely uncompetitive compared to their conventional counterparts in terms of fuel economy. The sustainability of green methanol** is a huge challenge. It is estimated that if a 16,000TEU container ship on the China-Europe route uses 100% green methanol fuel for the whole journey, the annual consumption will be about 50,000 tons. However, the current global biomethanol production is less than 1% of the total output, and the output in 2022 will only be 30.4 million tons, which is a huge gap. In fact, all green fuels, including green methanol, green ammonia, and bio-LNG synthetic LNG, are facing the challenge of expanding production capacity. At present, a small range of green fuel preparation pilots and demonstrations have been carried out around the world, but there are still some obstacles to large-scale promotion, and it is particularly critical to vigorously promote the large-scale production of green synthetic fuels in the next 10-20 years.
Q: Compared with traditional marine fuels, what are the advantages and disadvantages of methanol fuel in terms of environmental performance?
A: The environmental impact of methanol fuel is largely dependent on the way methanol is produced. Methanol produced from fossil fuels can reduce carbon emissions by about 10% compared to fuel oil, and methanol produced from renewable sources can achieve zero carbon emissions.
Zu Jingru, process engineer of ENRIC (Langfang) Energy Equipment Integration Technology Center, gave a keynote report on "Development of Skid-mounted Methanol Hydrogen Production Technology and Equipment".
In the report, Engineer Zu Jingru shared the relevant technologies of skid-mounted methanol hydrogen production unit and integrated hydrogen refueling station.
After the sharing, engineer Zu Jingru answered the questions raised by the audience in the interactive session
Q: What are the difficulties and challenges in the application of methanol hydrogen production technology?How to solve these problems?
Answer: Methanol hydrogen production technology is very mature at present, but there are still problems in the application, such as improper process control, catalyst carbon deposition, which affects the hydrogen production efficiency, and catalyst inactivation. At the same time, in the process of hydrogen production, toxic substances in the methanol feedstock will affect the catalytic efficiency of the catalyst. In addition, products such as carbon dioxide are produced during the reaction, which affects the selectivity of the catalyst.
Q: Compared with the traditional hydrogen preparation method, what are the advantages and characteristics of skid-mounted methanol hydrogen production technology?
A: Skid-mounted methanol hydrogen production technology occupies a small area, matches the needs of distributed energy resources, can reduce freight costs, and is the most economical way to use hydrogen on a small scale in the long term. At the same time, it has high advantages in environmental protection and energy utilization, and from the perspective of the terminal operation of methanol hydrogen production, skid-mounted methanol hydrogen production technology also has high social environmental protection benefits.
The exchange meeting set up a guest exchange session, which was presided over by Hu Zhibiao, deputy director of the R&D Department of the Catalyst Division of Southwest Chemical Research and Design Institute. The guests focused on the development of hydrogen-based energy and green methanol and had in-depth exchanges.
The following are some of the interactive Q&A with the guests:
Q: What is the current development trend of hydrogen-based energy and green methanol?
Wang Zhen: The most direct and effective way to reduce carbon emissions is to choose clean energy, and at present, China has made good progress in new energy ships using LNG and other fuels. At present, there is a large gap between the technology of methanol internal combustion engine at home and abroad, and it has not yet been commercialized in China. Fuel cell powered ships based on methanol reforming to produce hydrogen have been demonstrated abroad. Domestic hydrogen fuel cell-powered ships are still dominated by high-pressure hydrogen storage, such as the Three Gorges Hydrogen Boat No. 1.
In the future, clean energy fuels will be LNG, methanol, and hydrogen-ammonia fuels as the main development trends. In the field of ships, heating and power supply, hydrogen-based energy and green methanol will become an important development path. In terms of power plant, the internal combustion engine has a certain technical foundation and the transformation speed is faster, so it is faster than the fuel cell technology. Fuel cells have been widely used in vehicles, ships and power stations in recent years, and at present, under the guidance of national policies, hydrogen energy will become the main path for energy conservation and emission reduction. In addition, the technology based on hydrogen energy storage and transportation will become a channel for the development of high-tech and industrial chain in China. Therefore, from the perspective of policy and market, hydrogen-based energy will become the mainstream development direction in the future.
Zu Jingru: At present, hydrogen energy is in a stage of rapid development, and the hydrogen energy industry chain involves a wide range of aspects, which will become an important pillar of China's energy transformation.
Q: What is the current competition pattern of green methanol at home and abroad, and what are China's advantages and disadvantages in this field?
Wang Zhen: At present, the domestic green methanol technology is in a dominant position in the world. Compared with foreign countries, domestic green methanol has great advantages in production capacity and consumption capacity, which is conducive to industrial development. However, the state has not yet issued corresponding policies, and it needs to be further strengthened in terms of policies.
Hu Zhibiao: At present, carbon tax trading in foreign countries is used to achieve the combination of environmental protection benefits and this economic benefit, but the verification mechanism of China's carbon market trading needs to be improved. With the improvement of various policies and mechanisms, the advantages of China's green methanol in terms of social, environmental and economic benefits will gradually emerge.
Author: An Yi.