Advancements in methanol distillation system: A comprehensive overview

The urgent global demand for carbon neutrality is met with increasing energy consumption due to economic development, necessitating the adoption of a sustainable energy mix. More than just an essential C1 building block in the chemical industry, methanol production presents a promising solution for utilizing coal with lower carbon emissions. Additionally, it offers a practical means to transport and store excess power for sustainable energy systems with significant fluctuations. In both scenarios, the energy efficiency of methanol production holds great significance as it determines whether the methanol-based approach can be both carbon-neutral and economically viable. From this perspective, the purification process, known as methanol distillation (MD), as the most energy- and carbon-intensive step in methanol production, is of great importance. It plays a pivotal role in determining the competitiveness of methanol applications. Consequently, advanced MD systems (MDS) have garnered substantial interest in recent decades. These efforts have led to significant improvements in the state-of-the-art MDS, making them more efficient than the original designs. However, there is still a long distance from achieving the goal of supporting carbon-neutral energy systems. In this study, we provide a comprehensive review of the iterative development of MDS, spanning from their original configurations to the current competitive advanced processes. As strongly related topics, steady-state design, optimization, and control strategies are also designed. Furthermore, we conduct economic and environmental analyses on configurations commonly used in industry or those reported with considerable efficiency in the literature to identify promising approaches. In conclusion, this review outlines the limitations and challenges in methanol production and explores future opportunities for more sustainable solutions.