Study on coal to methanol of Arutmin coal

Abstract

The Indonesian government has encouraged coal mining companies to expand into coal downstream industries. In response to this policy, PT. Arutmin Indonesia has conducted a pre-feasibility study on the construction of a coal-to-methanol plant. The plant was located in the Pulau Laut Utara Coal Terminal (NPLCT). The plant is designed to produce 3.0 million tons of methanol/year. The raw material is supplied from the Sarongga coal mine, about 5 km away from NPLCT. The coal-to-methanol process was simulated using ChemCad to solve chemical and energy problems. Based on heat & material balance simulation results, the plant requires coal of 6.0 million tons/year as a raw material. Air Product technology was chosen for coal gasification and Davy Technology for methanol synthesis. Air product gasifier requires lower oxygen to produce syngas than other technologies, thereby reducing oxygen production costs. The plant needs an investment cost of USD 3.0 billion. With the assumption of a methanol price of 311 USD/ton and 20 years of tax holiday incentives, the financial analysis results show that the construction of coal-to-methanol plant is financially feasible with an NPV value of 289.7 million USD and an IRR of 13.35%.