Process conditions for preparing methanol from cornstalk gas

The low-heat-value cornstalk gas produced in the down-flow fixed bed gasifier was tentatively used for methanol synthesis. The cornstalk gas was purified and the technical procedures such as deoxygenation, desulfurization, catalytic cracking of tar, purification and hydrogenation were studied. The catalytic experiments of methanol synthesis with cornstalk syngas were carried out in a tubular-flow integral and isothermal reactor. The effect of reaction temperature, pressure, catalyst types, catalyst particle size, syngas flow at entering end and composition of syngas was investigated. The optimum process conditions and yield of methanol from cornstalk syngas were obtained. The experimental results indicated that the proper catalyst for the synthetic reaction was C301 and the optimum catalyst size was 0.833 mm x 0.351 mm. The optimum operating temperature and pressure were found to be 235 degrees C and 5 MPa, respectively. The suitable syngas flow 0.9-1.10 mol/h at entering end was selected and the best composition of syngas were CO 10.49%, CO2 8.8%, N2 37.32%, C(n)H(m) 0.95% and H2 40.49%. The best methanol yield was 0.418 g/g cornstalk. This study provided the technical support for the industrial test of methanol production from biomass (cornstalk) gas.