Proceedings World Geothermal Congress 2010

Bali, Indonesia, 25-29 April 2010

Utilization of Geothermal Energy and Emissions for Production of Renewable Methanol

K-C Tran, Albert Albertsson

Carbon Recycling International Höfðabakki 9- 110 Reykjavík, HS Orka hf Brekkustígur 36 – 260 Reykjanesbær
[email protected] , [email protected]

Keywords: Carbon Dioxide Recycling, Geothermal Energy, produce 2.1 million liters per annum of RM and be co-
Non-Condensable Gases, Renewable Methanol, located with the Svartsengi geothermal Combined Heat and
Transportation Fuel Power (CHP) generation plant.

ABSTRACT 2. COOPERATION BETWEEN HS AND CRI

The purpose of the paper is to review the operation and HS Orka hf harnesses the geothermal energy at Svartsengi,
economics of the first CO2 to renewable methanol industrial and in other areas in the Reykjanes peninsula. The company
scale plant, utilizing geothermal energy and non- has a history of innovation and covers the complete value
condensable gases. Key success factors for the project cycle of geothermal energy utilization. It includes power
include innovative technology and a resource pooling plant engineering and construction, plant operations, and
partnership between Carbon Recycling International ehf, and electrical distribution in this area. The company is a service
HS Orka hf. provider of electricity, heat, and hot water for residential and
industrial utilizes, well centers and theme parks.
1. INTRODUCTION CRI was founded to pursue the proposition of producing an
Iceland has one of the highest numbers of cars per capita in alcohol-based fuel, renewable methanol, from renewable
the world, approximately 227,321 for a population of resources. Currently, methanol is produced from fossil fuels,
approximately 315,000 people [1]. The level of pollution either natural gas or coal. CRI would be the first company to
from transportation and industrialization is a public concern produce renewable methanol in large quantities using only
and a limit to growth. Consequently, Iceland is investigating carbon dioxide, water and electricity as inputs.
ways to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, in order to
minimize petroleum dependency and improve balance of The main purpose of ISP at Svartsengi is twofold: 1) to
trade. mitigate the environmental impact of the geothermal gas
stream from the power plant and 2) to convert the
Iceland has a high concentration of volcanoes and geothermal gas stream to a valuable product from the power
geothermal energy is readily available [2, 3]. This renewable plant. The concept fits in the philosophy of Resource Park
energy source lends itself to the production of two feed (RP) by HS which promotes total utilization of geothermal
stocks, hydrogen and carbon dioxide which can be used for energy to enable development of derivative applications in
the production of fuel. harmony with the local environment. It is achieved through
successful use of heat waste for the Blue Lagoon, skin
therapy and treatment, fish farming, beyond the traditional
production of electricity, heat, and water. The recycling of
carbon dioxide for near zero emission power generation and
clean fuel manufacturing is an integral development of the
RP geothermal strategy. HS will secure land and provide
water, power, steam and labor in support of CRI for
permitting, engineering, construction and operation of ISP.
CRI will undertake the engineering, permitting, construction
and operation of ISP. HS recovers its investment through
participation in the sales of methanol from the operation of
ISP.
Figure 1: CO2 to Liquid Fuels Diagram
Carbon Recycling International (CRI) and HS Orka (HS)
cooperate in demonstrating the use of geothermal energy and
capture carbon dioxide to produce Renewable Methanol
(RM). RM can be upgraded to dimethylether or gasoline
using available standard conversion technology.

The processing of carbon dioxide from emissions of

geothermal power plants and the electrolyzing of water
provide necessary carbon sources and hydrogen gas to
produce clean fuel. Carbon dioxide is the main component
in the non condensable gas, a by-product gas of geothermal
power production [4, 5].

Carbon Recycling International plans to construct and Figure 2: Geothermal Power plant of HS Orka hf in
operate an Industrial Scale Plant (ISP) in 2010 which will Svartsengi, Iceland and Location of ISP plant.
1
KC and Albert

3. CO2 TO LIQUID FUEL PROCESS

CRI has proven the viability of the technology on a
laboratory scale at its facility in Reykjavik, Iceland. Figure 3
below shows a block flow diagram of the ISP process. The
demonstration plant proposed will generate methanol from
the consumption of electrical energy supplied on peak or off
peak and the use of CO2 rich Non-Condensable Gas (NCG)
feed from a geothermal steam plant.

Figure 4: Value Chain of CRI process

5. ISP OPERATING PARAMETERS

ISP will remove 2,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum
from the emission at Svartsengi power generation plan. It
will apply 2.5 megawatts of clean electricity to produce 2
million liters of fuel grade renewable methanol (RM) per
Figure 3: Block Flow Diagram of ISP Process. annum. The plant foot print is 50 by 50 meters. The
construction will be one year. ISP will be on line in the
The process shown in Figure 3 uses carbon dioxide which is second quarter of 2010. The schedule of Engineering,
the primary component of an effluent stream of NCG Procurement, and Construction (EPC) is depicted in Table 1.
discharged from the geothermal power plant as a raw
material for the methanol production. The electrical power
produced from the geothermal power is used for the
electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen which is also used
as a raw material. Hydrogen sulfide is contained in the NCG
effluent and must be removed prior to use in the methanol
conversion reactor to ensure longevity of the downstream
catalyst’s lifetime. The purification of the carbon dioxide is
achieved through an amine scrubbing system which will
discharge the H2S removed from NCG. Following this
purification step, the carbon dioxide is combined with the Table 1: Engineering, Procurement and Construction of
hydrogen and compressed from atmospheric pressure to the ISP.
pressure required in the methanol conversion loop. After the
raw syngas is compressed it is passed through heat
exchanger for pre-heating and then sent to a reactor where it
is partially converted to methanol. The partially converted 6. USE OF RENEWABLE METHANOL
syngas is then cooled and sent to a gas liquid separator
The clean production and burning characteristics of
where the gas from the separator must be recompressed and renewable methanol is a critical attribute in developing
recycled back to the methanol converter in order to improve alternative fuel which must meet not only the criteria of
the overall conversion of the process. The liquid from the
affordability and availability but also low carbon and
separator contains crude methanol which can be further
renewability. Figure 5 depicts the concept of carbon
processed for fuel grade methanol or to other fuels such as recycling by CRI needs less energy, emits less carbon
dimethylether or gasoline. dioxide and drives for the same distance [6].

4. ENTITY OBJECTIVES
The engineering, design, construction and operation of the
liquid fuels plant ISP at Svartsengi will address the
following technical areas to transform the concept into a
commercially viable entity:

• Effective separation of carbon dioxide from the

composition of emission associated with the geothermal
site
• Integration of the liquid fuels plant with the working
Figure 5: Well to wheels. Analysis of Renewable
geothermal power operation
Methanol
• Production of renewable methanol at the targeted fuel
specification CRI’s renewable methanol (RM) can enter the existing
• Reliable supply of renewable methanol to the existing transportation fuel pipeline in various path ways:
blending terminal
a. Renewable Methanol blending to Gasoline in low
The success of carbon dioxide recycling implementation volumes (RM10) [7]
requires the seamless blending of affordable renewable
methanol in gasoline or biodiesel supply line. It is necessary RM can be a substitute component for fuel to develop
to address carbon recycling by optimizing the complete substantially similar renewable gasoline by blending it in to
value chain (Figure 4). gasoline up to 10% by volume. RM10 requires no change in

2
 KC and Albert

the car, minimal changes are required in distribution The CRI concept is competitive if the source of energy is
infrastructure, and no loss in mileage. renewable, abundant and the price of oil is more than 50
USD per barrel. However, a successful commercialization of
b. Alternative renewable fuel [7] the technology requires favorable renewable transportation
fuel and carbon regulations from the government. It also
RM 85 (up to 85% Methanol and remaining Gasoline) can requires the participation and approval of the gasoline
fuel Flexible Fuel Vehicles (FFVs) which uses methanol or retailers and automobile makers to enable the introduction of
gasoline in the same tank through the use of an alcohol fuel renewable methanol into the gasoline pipeline.
sensor that measures the methanol content of the fuel going
to the engine and adjusts the fuel flow rate and spark
advance accordingly. Relatively few changes are needed to A coordinated public private partnership between CRI, HS,
turn a vehicle into an FFV with incremental costs $50 - the municipality of Grindavik and the central government
$150. Iceland has been the cornerstone for the deployment of the
technology.
c. RM – Ethanol blends in Gasoline
REFERENCES
Low volume bio ethanol blends are used in European Union Statistics Iceland. 2006. March 2009. <http://www.statice.is
(up to 5% by volume). Renewable Methanol can co-exist >.
with ethanol, with methanol-ethanol blends in gasoline [8].
Iceland. National Energy Authority and Ministries of
d. RM for Biodiesel production Industry and Commerce. Energy in Iceland: Historical
Perspective, Present Status, Future Outlook. 2 ed.
Around 12% by weight of Methanol is used as input for the September 2006.
production of bio diesel. Bio diesel is mixed with fuel diesel Geothermal Development and Research in Iceland. April
up to 20% by volume. 2006.
e. RM for fuel cells International Geothermal Association. Quarterly 49. July –
September 2002.
On board reformer fuel cell uses methanol as a hydrogen
Ármannsson, Halldórs et. al., “CO2 emissions from
carrier. It extracts the hydrogen from the methanol and
geothermal power plants and natural geothermal
passes to the base hydrogen fuel cell. Direct Methanol Fuel
activity in Iceland”. Geothermics, 34 (2005): 286–296.
cell does not require any conversion of methanol to
hydrogen [9, 10]. Well to Wheel Analysis of energy use and GHG emissions
of advanced fuel/ vehicle systems – European Study.
7. CONCLUSION
GM Study – 7th September 2002.
The potential geothermal energy in Iceland, alone, is in
excess of 20 TWh per annum [3]. The world average EUCAR, CONCAWE and JRC joint study – March 2007
emission from a geothermal plant is 122 g per kWh [4]. The Methanol Institute. Use of Methanol as a Transportation
continuing increase in geothermal energy will vent a large Fuel. November 2007.
amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The
application of the CRI process is a sensible approach to Intromet. Introduction of Methanol in Gasoline using
harness emission free geothermal energy and to produce Ethanol as co-solvent by Henrik Bonding,.Ecotraffic
renewable fuel. ERD3 AB, 2005.
<http://www.ewire.com/display.cfm/Wire_ID/1180>.http://
www.sae.org/automag/features/fuelcells/veh1.htm.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/03/toshiba-starting-
mass-production-of-fuel
cells.php?daylife=1&dcitc=daylife-article.

Figure 6: Interrelations between CRI, geothermal power

utilities and fuel retailers.