Development of an economical approach for the production of low-carbon methanol and low-carbon methanol-derivatives

为了解决温室气体(GHG)排放问题，加拿大政府制定了清洁燃料标准(CFS)，旨在降低该国使用的燃料和能源系统的碳强度，迫使加拿大工业用更绿色的选择取代石油衍生品的使用。然而，目前还没有可再生的选择可以有效地取代它们。因此，必须开发各种能够生产低碳能源产品的绿色技术，以满足整个能源需求并使加拿大经济脱碳。甲烷是沼气和天然气的主要成分，它将在能源转型中发挥主要作用，因为它是比原油更可持续的选择，而且它是目前可用的最便宜的碳源之一。将甲烷转化为甲醇是一个有趣的选择，允许对不同的甲烷资源进行定价。甲醇是一种更容易储存和运输的产品。然而，目前工业规模使用的工艺需要大量生产甲醇才能在经济上可行。因此，开发一种新的方法来降低这一过程的总成本是非常可取的，而且还将有助于经济上生产甲醇衍生物，这种化合物以后可以在我们的经济中取代石油衍生物。目前的研究计划将通过提出一种结合两个过程的新的Power-to-X(PTX)方法来解决这个问题。第一种是通过低成本的铁基催化剂将烟道气和多余的可再生电力转化为合成气(然后可以转化为甲醇)。这一过程不仅允许温室气体的转化，而且还允许可再生电力的化学储存。在第二个过程中，第一个过程中的失活铁基催化剂将用于将甲烷转化为甲醇。因此，第一个过程的失活催化剂在第二个过程中充当执行催化剂，反之亦然，系统可以“自我维护”。这一方法不仅将大大降低各个进程的成本(因为两个进程使用相同的基础设施)，而且还有助于加拿大经济的很大一部分脱碳。目前的发现赠款将主要集中于第二过程(甲烷氧化制甲醇)催化系统的开发和优化，以及对反应机理的理解，这将有助于后来对整个PTX方法的优化和扩大。这个为期5年的项目将有助于培训一支由高素质人员(HQP)组成的多元化团队(不同的专业知识和国籍)，这些人员在能源/材料(催化剂)/化学/化学工程(工业/技术转移)的跨学科研究背景下工作，这将以不同的专业知识和观点做出贡献，并将增加研究计划的精益性。

To tackle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions issues, the Canadian Government created the Clean Fuel Standard (CFS) aiming to reduce the carbon intensity of fuels and energy systems used in the country, forcing the Canadian industry to replace the use of petroleum-derivatives with greener options. However, there are currently no renewable options that could effectively replace them. Hence, a variety of green technologies allowing the production of low-carbon energy products will have to be developed to address the whole energy demand and to decarbonize the Canadian economy. Methane, which is the main component of biogas and natural gas, will play a major role in the energy transition since it is a more sustainable option than crude oil and it is currently one of the cheapest carbon sources available. Converting methane to methanol, which is a more easily storable and transportable product is an interesting option allowing the valorization of different methane resources. However, the process currently used at industrial scale requires a large methanol production to be economical viable. Hence, the development of a new approach that can reduce the overall costs of this process is highly desirable and would also contribute to the economical production of methanol-derivatives, which could later replace petroleum-derivatives in our economy. The present research program will tackle this issue by proposing a new Power-to-X (PtX) approach that combines two processes. The first one will convert flue gas and surplus renewable electricity into syngas (which can then be converted to methanol) over a low-cost iron-based catalyst. This process allows not only the conversion of GHG gases but the chemical storage of renewable electricity as well. In the second process, the deactivated iron-based catalyst from the first process will be used to convert methane to methanol. Hence, the deactivated catalyst of the first process acts as a performing catalyst in the second process and vice-versa and the system can be "self-maintained". This approach will not only considerably reduce the costs of the individual processes (since both processes use the same infrastructure) but also contribute to decarbonize a large portion of the Canadian economy. The present Discovery Grant will mainly focus on the development and optimization of the catalytic system for the second process (methane oxidation to methanol) and on the comprehension of the reaction mechanisms, which will later contribute to the optimization and scale-up of the whole PtX approach. This 5-year project will contribute to the training of a diverse team (diverse expertise and nationalities) of highly qualified personnel (HQP) working in a context of interdisciplinary research on energy/materials (catalyst)/chemistry/chemical engineering (industrial/technological transfer), which will contribute with different expertise and points of view and will increase the excellence of the research program.