The availability and low cost of shale gas has boosted its use as fuel and as a raw material to produce value-added compounds. Benzene is one of the chemicals that can be obtained from methane, and represents one of the most important compounds in the petrochemical industry. It can be synthesized via direct methane aromatization (DMA) or via indirect aromatization (using oxidative coupling of methane). DMA is a direct-conversion process, while indirect aromatization involves several stages. In this work, an economic, energy-saving, and environmental assessment for the production of benzene from shale gas using DMA as a reaction path is presented. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to observe the effect of the operating conditions on the profitability of the process. The results show that production of benzene using shale gas as feedstock can be accomplished with a high return on investment.
The
search for the design of sustainable systems for the production
of chemicals and utilities based on renewable sources has been recently
considered with special interest. In this work, a methodology for
the design of flexible renewable-based utility plants is presented.
The methodology is based on the formulation of a multiperiod mixed-integer
linear model. The model uses a superstructure that includes different
technologies to process biomass, solar radiation, waste, and wind
and takes into account variations of renewable resources and utility
demands over time. One of the main objectives of this work is to analyze
how time discretization affects the design, for which the differences
and implications of design under three time-horizon levels are considered.
A case study for a city located in the southwest region of Mexico
is taken to show the implications of optimal structure designs under
annual, monthly, and weekly details of demand levels. It is shown
how a yearly or monthly based optimal structure needs to be further
adjusted to meet the demands given by a more detailed set of demand
data related to weekly needs.
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