Carbon Dioxide Utilization for the Sustainable Production of Dimethyl Carbonate
Abstract:
The ongoing and pressing global climate change emergency has propelled the world to implement ways and methods of reducing greenhouse gases emitted from industrial processes. Carbon dioxide valorization presents an attractive option for industry to implement to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere, by using it as a reactant. The traditional process to produce dimethyl carbonate (DMC) utilizes an extremely toxic chemical and volatile organic compound named phosgene. This process requires high energy, leaving a carbon footprint. The market of DMC is also expanding, as the drive for more polycarbonate (an end product of DMC) production increases in the automotive and electronics industries. This project aims to a design a Dimethyl Carbonate production facility which utilizes carbon dioxide as a feedstock, minimizing the environmental footprint and promoting sustainability. The plant’s proposed location is in Geismar, Louisiana with a capacity of about 168 kilotons of dimethyl carbonate per year. The plant consists of 3 sections: feedstock conditioning, methanol synthesis and DMC production. For the feedstock, carbon dioxide, ethylene oxide and hydrogen are required. The plant was designed with process safety considerations to have rigorous fire-prevention control, and with environmental considerations to minimize the carbon footprint of the plant.
Students:
Irina Mercoushev, Tyson Daniel, Mcgee Odger, Dylan Brant, Tavleen Dhindsa
