Problems of producing motor fuels from alternative raw materials

The mechanism and kinetics of reactions occurring in different processes of natural gas processing to motor fuels are considered. Among them are the syntheses of methanol, dimethyl ether, and gasoline from synthesis gas (syngas) and production of pure hydrogen from methanol. The general scheme of carbon-containing raw materials processing to produce motor fuels is considered using natural gas as example. The advantages of the direct synthesis of dimethyl ether (DME) from syngas (instead of methanol synthesis) over all processes producing motor fuels were shown. The synthesis of DME uses the syngas of almost any composition and, hence, the process scheme of carbon-containing feedstock syngas DME gasoline becomes universal and appropriate for processing various raw materials. Prospects of using methanol as an easily transportable source of pure hydrogen were considered. The steam reforming of methanol is a reaction inverse to its synthesis. The oxidation of residual CO in order to purify hydrogen is favored in the mode of catalyst surface ignition. Modern catalysts and methods for removal of CO traces can provide production of pure hydrogen by methanol processing with an efficiency appropriate, in principle, for using the corresponding devices aboard a vehicle.The materials of the report at the III International School Engineering Chemical Science for Advanced Technologies¹ and recent publication² were used in part.__________Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 11, pp. 2352–2363, November, 2004.