Process modelling and feasibility study of sorption-enhanced methanol synthesis

•Design and modelling of a sorption-enhanced methanol synthesis process.•Dynamic reactor modelling and pseudo-steady state process modelling.•Production costs comparable to conventional CO2 hydrogenation to methanol. A sorption-enhanced process for hydrogenation of CO2 to methanol was designed and investigated by mathematical modelling and techno-economic analysis. The modelling methodology combined dynamic modelling of the cyclic reactor operation with pseudo-steady state modelling of the overall process. With continuous adsorption of water in the sorption-enhanced process, highly pure methanol (>99%) was produced without downstream distillation. The dynamic reactor cycle was designed and optimized to maximize the methanol production rate. The cycle and the process were modelled in two reactor configurations: adiabatic and isothermal. Under the default cost assumptions for the raw materials (CO2 50 €/t, hydrogen 3000 €/t) the adiabatic configuration was found more competitive in terms of the overall methanol production cost, at 1085 €/t compared to 1255 €/t for the isothermal case. The cost estimate for the adiabatic case was found comparable to a reference process representing conventional CO2 hydrogenation to methanol (1089 €/t). In addition to the methanol process, the developed modeling method has potential in the design of other sorption-enhanced processes. [Display omitted]