Techno-Economic Evaluation of Captured CO2-To-Methanol Pathway as a Cost-Reducing Strategy for CCUS in the Oil and Gas Industry

Unofficial AI-generated summary based on the public title and abstract. Not an official translation.

🔬研究者:Provides a detailed techno-economic framework and data for CO2-to-methanol conversion, useful for benchmarking and further research in carbon utilization.

🏢実務担当者:Offers a business case for integrating CO2-to-methanol production into oil and gas operations, potentially reducing CCUS costs and creating revenue streams.

🏛政策担当者:Highlights the economic viability of carbon utilization, supporting policies that incentivize CCUS and CO2-derived products.

A major obstacle to the widespread adoption of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) remains the high capital and operating costs associated with the technology. However, several studies have shown that investment in carbon utilization could play a key role in alleviating this problem through the production of marketable products. This study assesses the technical and economic feasibility of utilizing captured CO2 to produce methanol as a means of reducing overall CCUS costs and facilitating the decarbonization of the oil and gas industry. Methanol is a viable utilization product. This is a result of its value as an important chemical feedstock and growing relevance as a transition fuel, making it an attractive product both economically and environmentally. The process involves production of methanol using CO2 captured from the flue gases of a refinery. Aspen Hysys V14 software is used as the process simulation tool to determine the technical feasibility and energy requirements of the process. An economic evaluation is conducted using Aspen Process Economic Analyzer V14 to project capital expenditure (CAPEX) and operating expenses (OPEX). Key indicators such as the Annual Profit, Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return and Payback Period, are employed to evaluate the economic performance of CO2-to-Methanol conversion. The process simulation results yielded liquid methanol with a mole fraction percentage of 93.18% leaving at 55℃ and 350 kPa. From economic evaluation, CAPEX and OPEX resulted in values of $54.06 million and $111 million respectively. Annual profit was estimated at $23 million/year. The NPV, IRR, Payback period and Break-even price for the methanol production plant were also estimated at $58.02 million, 42.5%, 2.4 years and $0.704/kg respectively. The results from this study offer valuable insights into how carbon utilization can enhance the economic viability and scalability of CCUS technologies in the oil and gas sector through the production of valuable products such as methanol. By leveraging carbon utilization, the oil and gas industry can better embrace CCUS technologies, thus promoting both economic growth and environmental sustainability.

• semanticscholar https://doi.org/10.2118/235116-msfirst seen 2026-08-14 05:34:27