The Carnol process system for CO2 mitigation and methanol production

The feasibility of an alternative CO{sub 2} mitigation system and a methanol production process is investigated. The Carnol system has three components: (1) a coal fired power plant supplying flue gas CO{sub 2} to, (2) the Carnol process which converts the CO{sub 2} with hydrogen from natural gas to methanol which is used, (3) as a fuel component in the automotive sector. For the methanol production process alone, up to 100% CO{sub 2} emission reduction can be achieved while for the entire system up to 65% CO{sub 2} emission reduction can be obtained. The Carnol system is technically feasible and economically competitive with alternative CO{sub 2} disposal systems for coal fired power plants. The Carnol process is estimated to be economically attractive compared to the current market price of methanol, especially if credit can be taken for the carbon as a marketable coproduct