Shimane University and Sumitomo Chemical Company to accelerate joint research on a highly effective method of synthesizing methanol from carbon dioxide at a yield ideal for practical implementation.
Methanol – Raw Material for Coatings and more
Methanol is an
industrial alcohol that is widely used as a basic raw material for such chemical products as coating materials, adhesives, drugs, synthetic resins, as well as for light olefins, including ethylene and propylene. With an annual global demand of approximately 80 million tons, methanol is currently manufactured from fossil resources, mainly natural and coal gases, through several manufacturing processes under high temperatures and high pressures.
Amid the growing urgency of addressing climate change on a global scale, academia and industry are cooperating to develop carbon cycle technologies, aiming to reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses.
Manufacture Products with Low Greenhouse Gas Emissions
By combining carbon dioxide generated from the incineration of waste with hydrogen derived from renewable energy, we can create methanol that can be used to produce useful industrial products while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
In addition, because methanol can also be produced from syngas (a mixture of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide), it is also possible to convert used plastics and biomass resources from a region into syngas, and use that gas as the raw material for the production of methanol, thereby creating a complete carbon cycle.
Challenges for the practical implementation of methanol synthesis using carbon dioxide as a raw material are the low yield of methanol and catalyst degradation due to the presence of water vapor as a byproduct. However, a novel process technology that can increase reaction yield, developed by Professor Kohji Omata of the interdisciplinary faculty of science and engineering at Shimane University, has recently gathered attention as a technology that may overcome these challenges.
In this joint research, Shimane University will continue basic research into catalysts and reaction processes, while Sumitomo Chemical will work on industrial applications of the catalysts and processes developed in Shimane University’s basic research, to establish a highly effective methanol manufacturing process.
Through this joint research, Shimane University and Sumitomo Chemical will contribute to the creation of a sustainable society by completing a highly efficient methanol manufacturing process and establishing the carbon cycle based on the resources of carbon dioxide and used plastics.
Source: Sumitomo Chemical