Techno-economic analysis of bio-methanol production from landfill gas methanation / Fatin Malurie Binti Roslan

Faculty of Chemical and Process Engineering Technology

Final Year Report (Bachelor of Technology Mechanical Engineering (Petroleum) with Hons ) -- Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah - 2025

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Natural gas (NG) is a major energy source widely used around the globe as its applications include electricity generation, domestic and industrial heating and as feedstock in chemical production. The largest component of NG, methane, can be converted into methanol, used to produce an array of chemicals such as formaldehyde and acetic acid. However, NG is a non-renewable source and releases a large amount of carbon emission, thus, research has been done to address these limitations. Methane has caused great harm to the Earth’s ozone layers, thus it is urgent that alternative sources and innovative utilization methods be explored, to ensure long-term energy security and sustainability. One solution was to use landfill gas (LFG), a raw renewable natural gas to replace the conventional NG. Natural gas (NG), with 85–95% CH₄, is a key feedstock for methanol production but contributes to ~6–7 gigatonnes of CO₂ annually. In contrast, landfill gas (LFG), containing 40–60% CH₄, presents a viable renewable alternative with a global production potential of ~250–300 bcm/year. Previous researchers had emphasized on the importance of finding alternatives that would answer this issue. Yet, there is a knowledge gap due to few studies on bio-methanol production from LFG. There is also a gap where there are no simulation models that integrate RNG production from LFG with the bio-methanol production. This research seeks to fill these gaps by assessing the feasibility of producing bio-methanol from LFG, using Aspen Plus to simulate the entire process, including RNG production, methanol synthesis, and the economic evaluation of the process. The objectives of this study include to develop a simulation of renewable bio-methanol from LFG, to evaluate the techno-economic analysis (TEA), the improve the simulation models to satisfy the TEA and to integrate the simulation to its subsequent chemical production. The methodology involved a software, ASPEN Plus, a process simulation program developed by Aspen Technology, Inc, to simulate the process of producing bio-methanol. The result was a flowsheet that successfully simulated the objective, and three simulations that improved based on the TEA. Conclusively, it can be deemed that the thesis was successful in researching the plausibility of using LFG as a possible replacement for NG in the future as a feedstock in chemical production. Results found in this study also justify shifting from NG to RNG based methanol production in furtherance of assistance toward global sustainability goals on clean energy-SDG 7, climate action-SDG 13, and life on land-SDG 15. Coupling process simulation with TEA allows this work to thoroughly quantify the potential of RNG to drive sustainable industrial practices with a cleaner and more economically viable solution for methanol production. This goes to show that the integration of RNG into methanol production is an example of a holistic approach to sustainability in the energy field, industry, and industrial management.