SUMMER TRAINING PRESENTATION

In partial fulfilment of requirements for the degree of

B.E. in CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

TOPIC - A DETAILED STUDY ON ‘METHANOL AND FORMALIN’ PRODUCTION IN

OPERATION’S DEPARTMENT AT ASSAM PETRO-CHEMICAL LIMITED, NAMRUP .

Presented by,
Arnab Kumar Roy -(B15/12)
Uddipta Kumar Talukdar -(B15/06)
Ajay Kumar Das -(B15/63)
Kundal Kashyap -(B15/91)
ASSAM PETRO-CHEMICAL LIMITED, NAMRUP
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 CONTENTS
CONTENTS

1. INTRODCTION
2. METHANOL
3. APPLICATIONS
4. METHANOL PLANT FLOW PATH
a. COMPRESSION
b. DESULPHURIZATION
c. REFORMATION
d. REACTOR REACTION
e. DISTILLATION
5. REACTIONS INVOLVED IN METHANOL PRODUCTION
6. SCHEMATICS AND FLOW DAIGRAM OF METHANOL PLANT
7. FORMALIN
8. FLOW PATH OF FORMALIN PLANT
9. FORMALIN PLANT REACTIONS
10. FORMALIN PLANT FLOW DIAGRAM
11. SAFETY , PRECAUTIONS & TPM
12. CONCLUSION
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  INTRODUCTION
Assam Petro-Chemical industry (APL) was set up
in 1971 in Namrup.
The basic agenda of its inception was to utilize the
huge reserve of natural gas in Upper Assam .
It has come up as one of the most successful industry
in terms of gross profit and mass production of
methanol and formalin .
The potential of methanol being used as substitute for
LPG is one worth mentioning .

CAPACITY

PRODUCT TPD TPY

 METHANOL 100 33000
 FORMALIN 125 41250

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 METHANOL

Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol among

others, is a chemical with the formula CH3OH .

Today, methanol is mainly produced industrially

by hydrogenation of carbon monoxide.

 It is a light, volatile, colorless, flammable liquid

with a distinctive odor similar to that of ethanol.

Natural gas is the most economical and widely used feedstock for methanol
production

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 APPLICATIONS OF METHANOL

Other chemical derivatives of methanol include dimethyl ether, which has

replaced chlorofluorocarbons as and acetic acid. Dimethyl ether also can be
blended with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for home heating and cooking, and
can be used as a diesel replacement transportation fuel.
In some wastewater treatment plants, a small amount of methanol is added to
wastewater to provide a food source of carbon for the denitrifying bacteria, which
convert nitrates to nitrogen to reduce the denitrification of sensitive aquifers.

Formaldehyde Fertilizers

DMT(Polyester intermediary) Drugs

MTP(gasoline adhesive) Fertilizers Bio diesel

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 MAIN PROCESSES IN METHANOL PRODUCTION

1. Desulphurization – It is the process of removing Sulphur from the natural

gas stream.

H2S + ZnO  ZnS + H2O

2. Reformation- In this step the natural gas (CH4) is converted to CO , CO2 and H2.

CH4 + H2O  CO + 3H2 (Ni catalyst)

C2H4 + 2H2O  2CO + 5H2 (Ni catalyst)
CO+ H2O  CO2 + H2

3. Reaction – In this step the syn gas reacts to form methanol.

4.Distillation- Distillation is done to get pure refined product with 99.9% purity.
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  METHANOL PLANT FLOW PATH
1.The natural gas first enters the NGBC (Natural gas booster compressor) which is a kind

of reciprocating compressor.

2.Then it is passed through desulphuriser where sulphur impurities are removed using

catalyst like Zn . It is done because sulphur act as a poison for Ni catalyst which is used

in the production process.

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3. The compressed gas is then passed into reforming tower. Here breakdown of

higher hydrocarbon into synthetic gas occurs which results in the formation of

gases like CO, CO2, H2 and small amount of methane and ethane .

4. The flue gas produced in this process is at almost 870o C. This temperature is used up

by the boilers to produce steam. Consequently, the temperature of flue gas is bought

down to almost 180o C when it is removed out as per the Environment Regulation Acts.

5. The gases formed in the reforming section are passed on for the initial Distillation

for initial distillation and to bring down the temperature of the gases to around 400oC

and also for the heating of the boilers needed for initial boiling of the feed stream and

then the flue gas is passed onto compressor in which the pressure of the gas is further

increased so that it is optimal for reaction from which it is taken down to the reactor.

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6. In the reactor various reactions takes place to produce crude methanol. The reaction to

feed ratio is around 14% and the remaining amount is taken back to the reflux drum

for furthur recycling of the reactants and the remaining is taken into the first storage

tank.

7. In this stage the Methanol is called ‘Sweet Methanol’ as it is not pure and contains lots

of impurities, after primary settling and then the feed is send to Distillation column for

final treatment.

8.The purpose of the distillation column is

to remove the impurities present in the crude

methanol and make the purity to around

99.9% and thus produce the final product

which are sent to three separate storage tanks .

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FLOW DAIGRAM FOR METHANOL SYNTHESIS

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MAIN PROCESSES OF METHNOL PRODUCTION :

Feedstock Compression

Feedstock Desulphurisation

Reforming –
•Steam gas mixing
•Reformer Furnace
•Fuel systems and Firing Control
•Combustion Air and Flue gas systems
•Make gas cooling

Methanol synthesis

Distillation

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 a. Feedstock compression

Natural gas at a pressure of 15-19 kg/ cm2 enters the reciprocating compressor.
In APL the gas is supplied from AGCL, Duliajan. The gas is further compressed under high
pressure to about 29.1 kg/cm2 before flowing on to the desulphurisation stage.

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b. Feedstock Desulphurisation

The gas for process feedstock from the compressor flows on to a natural
gas heater, located in the convection section of the furnace, where it is
heated to about 400®c . This gas then enters a Desulphuriser which
contains a bed of zinc oxide absorbent for the removal of sulphur
compounds . The useful life of the zinc oxide absorbent is limited by the
weight of sulphur is therefore directly related to the percentage of
sulphur in the feed gas as well as the quantity of gas processed.

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Fig- Desulphurizer Unit

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 c. Reforming –

On leaving desulphuriser tank, the desulphurised natural gas is mixed with

superheated process steam which comes from the 32kg/cm² a steam separator.
The normal value of the steam/ carbon ratio is moles steam/carbon atom is 2:1 .

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Flow Chart for Desulphurization and Reforming

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•Steam gas mixing : The mixed steam and natural gas than flows to the reactants

pre heater at temperature of about 400 c and a pressure of about 25.2 kg/cm² which is

located in the convection section in the reformer furnace, and heat the reformer gas up to

about 510 c.

•Reformer furnace : In the reformer furnace, process gas flows over a reforming

catalyst, reacting to form hydrogen, carbon-monoxide, carbon – dioxide, methane and

steam. The catalyst is packed in vertical tubes supported in the furnace and heat necessary

for the reaction is absorbed by the gas through the walls of the tubes. The process gas or

‘make gas’ leaves the tubes at 20 kg/cm² and at a temperature upto 875 c depending on the

age of the catalyst.

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c. Fuel systems and firing control: The purge gas and the flash gas flow

from the methanol loop to the main fuel header where they are mixed with the natural
gas. The burners are designed to handle the wide range of gas mixtures expected, varying
from 90 mol % CH₄ upto 77 mol % H₂

d. Combustion air and flue gas systems :Combustion air is sent to the
furnace by an electrically driven combustion Air fan. The air is heated to 360®c by a
combustion Air heater, and is delivered to the burners via a main header and three
sub- headers.

e. Make gas cooling: The hot process gas leaving the reforming furnace is first
cooled in a boiler to about 288®c by heat exchange with water boiling at 243®c. The boiler
is of the fixed tubesheet, fire tube type, with water on the shell side. The water flow is by
natural circulation and is therefore located relatively close to end below the steam drum
and is made of C and Mo and Cr steels with internal refractory lining of the inlet channel.
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 d.Reactor

Syngas at 18.2 kg/cm² and 40®c is delivered to the methanol synthesis loop by a pair of
electrically driven reciprocating syngas compressors. Each machine is designed for 55%
of plant flowsheet capacity and so under normal operating conditions both machine will
be operating. Syngas is compressed to about 68.2 kg/cm².
The synthesis loop is that section of the plant where part of the synthesis gas is
converted into methanol.

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 e. Distillation

•Removal of light ends :

Crude methanol is pumped from the atmospheric

crude methanol tank, to the top of the light end

column. This column contains fourty eight sieve

Type trays with sample draw off points and

therowells located at various intervals. The normal working pressures at the top and

buttom of the tower are in the order of 1.53 and 1.82 kg/cm² respectively. A flow of 366

kg/h of water is added to the crude feed. This is a portion of water bottoms recycled to

give the optimum solution concentration for methanol separation.

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•Removal of heavy ends:

Bottoms from the light ends column are withdrawn and fed to a heavy ends column by a

heavy ends column feed pump. It contains 93 sieve-trays, with feed inlets provided at trays

37, 40 and 43. Tray no 40 is normally found to be the optimum feed tray. The tower top and

bottoms pressure should be about 1.53 and 2.30 kg/cm².

Overall control of the distillation unit depends on maintaining a

steady material balance to keep the product methanol on specification. In order to achieve

this it is also necessary to keep good control of the energy balance.

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Flow Chart For Reactor and Distillation

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