DESIGN OF PLANT FOR PRODUCING

METHANOL FROM NIGERIAN NATURAL GAS

EZEMA OLUCHUKWU GEOFFERY

GROUP 3
PG.2020/00664

DEPARTMENT
OF

CHEMICAL/PETROCHEMICAL ENGINEERING
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
RIVERS STATE UNIVERSITY

MARCH, 2022

TABLE OF CONTENT
CHAPTER 1
1.1.1 Relevance of design to chemical engineering………………………………1

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1.1.2 Natural gas……………………………………………………………….….2
1.2 Statement of Problem…………………………………………………….....2
1.3 Aim and Objectives………………………………………………………....3
1.4 Scope of the Work………………………………………………………..…3
1.5 Significance of the work……………………………………………………3
CHAPTER 2
2.1 Extent of Past Work…………………………………………………………4
2.1.1 Natural Gas………………………………………………………………….4
2.2 Current Work………………………………………………………………...6
2.2.1 Methanol…………………………………………………………………..…6
2.2.2 Feedstock ……………………………………………………………………7
2.2.3 Properties…………………………………………………………………….8
2.2.4 Various commercial processes………………………………………………10
CHAPTER 3
3.1 Material balance………………………………………………………………11
3.2 Basis of design…………………………………………………………..……11
3.3 Material balance equation…………………………………………………..…11
3.4 Conservation of mass…………………………………………………….……11
CHAPTER 4
4.1 Heat balance…………………………………………………………………...18
CHAPTER 5
5.1 Process design-major equipment distillation……………………………20
CHAPTER 6
6.1 Mechanical design……………………………………………………….……34
6.1.1 Mechanical design-major equipment…………………………………………34
6.1.2 Mechanical design-minor equipment…………………………………………43
CHAPTER 7
7.1 Instrumentation and control……………………………………………..…48
7.1.1 Instruments…………………………………………………………………48
7.2 Control schemes……………………………………………………………48
7.2.1 Level control……………………………………………………………….48
7.2.2 Pressure control……………………………………………………………48
7.2.3 Flow control…………………………………………………….…….……49
7.3 Instruments and controllers……………………………………….…….….49
7.4 Pollution control and safety………………………………………….….….51
7.4.1 Occupational Health………………………………………………………….52
CHAPTER 8
8.1 Cost estimation………………………………………………………………53
8.1.1 Factors Affecting Investment and Production Cost………………………...53
8.1.2 Capital Investments…………………………………………………………53
8.1.3 Estimation of Capital Investment…………………………………………...54
8.1.4 Cost Indexes…………………………………………………………...……54
8.1.5 Production Cost…………………………………………………………..…54
8.1.6 Manufacturing Cost…………………………………………………………54
8.1.7 General Expenses……………………………………………………………55
8.1.8 Profitability Analysis…………………………………………………..……55
8.1.9 Rate of Investment………………………………………………………..…56
8.1.10 Payback Period………………………………………………………………56
CHAPTER 9
9.1 Plant layout………………………………………………………………..…59
CHAPTER 10
Design simulation (hysys)……………………………………………...62
CHAPTER 11
11.1 Conclusion………………………………………………………………..…63
11.2 Recommendations………………………………………………...…………63

Reference………………………………………………..……64
Appendix………………………………………………………...……..66

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List of tables
Table No.
2.1 Raw associated gas composition in volume percentage…………………………….7
2.2 Physical properties of methanol……………………………………………………8
5.1 Vapor-liquid equilibrium data for methanol+water mixtures at 1.0 atm…………..21
7.1 Showing Letter Codes Instrument Symbols…………………………………..…..50
List of figures
FigureNo.
3.1 Simplified process diagram of methanol………………14
5.1 Graph of the Tray/Stages (McCabe Thale Diagram)……………………………..22
7.1 A Typical Control Scheme for Level Control……………………………………48
7.2 Typical Control Scheme for Pressure Control………………………………...…49
7.3 A Typical Control Scheme for Flow Control…………………………………....49
7.4 Mount Position of Controller…………………………………………………….49
7.5 Diagram Showing Various Positions of Instrument and Controllers……………50
7.6 A Typical Control Loop (For Flow Control)…………………………………….51
10:1 Process Flow Diagram of the Hysys Simulation…………………………………………………………..62