Methanol energy storage company

Why is methanol a good energy carrier?

The identified strengths of methanol as an energy carrier include its high volumetric energy density, the mature technology for producing it from hydrogen and carbon dioxide, and its broad applicability.

How is methanol stored?

Methanol is stored as a liquid at ambient temperature and pressure, oxygen is stored as a liquid at - 183 ∘ C, and carbon dioxide is stored as a liquid at 7 bar and - 50 ∘ C; only hydrogen is stored as a gas (at 250 bar) while it is buffered before going into the methanol synthesis. Figure inspired by Baak et al. 8

How efficient is hydrogen storage compared to methanol storage?

The round-trip efficiency for hydrogen storage at 38% is higher than for methanol storage with carbon cycling at 35%. Figure 2. Average electricity costs for systems based on wind and solar

How much methanol can be stored in a tank?

A single 200,000 m 3 cylindrical tank with diameter 80 m and height 40 m can store 880 GWh of methanol. When combusted with pure oxygen in a transcritical Allam cycle turbine using carbon dioxide as the working fluid, up to 98% of the carbon dioxide from combustion can be captured with minimal effort, producing power at efficiencies of up to 66%.

Does methanol synthesis require large-scale hydrogen storage?

In production facilities using fossil fuels, methanol synthesis is run with high-capacity factors. Maintaining these high load levels with fluctuating hydrogen supply from variable electricity would require large-scale hydrogen storage to buffer the hydrogen, which may not be available as discussed above.

How much does methanol cost?

Consequently, the share of transportation of the renewable energy carrier within the overall costs declines from 41 to 50% for hydrogen to 1–2% for methanol. In total, the methanol prices are in the range of 18.6–29.7 €/GJ, which translates to 370–591 €/t.