Design Of A Syngas Infrastructure

A cluster feeding on synthesis gas produced by gasification would create feedstock flexibility to existing petrochemical clusters, which is key to their continued prosperity in times of increasing uncertainty about global crude oil production and availability. This paper describes the design of such a syngas cluster and infrastructure where technical, economic and institutional requirements have been taken into consideration. A number of network topologies were explored. A double bus topology turned out to be the most attractive solution. Therein, users and suppliers can connect to a high volume, central 'us' that comprises two pipelines for high and low quality syngas respectively. This topology allows for a major simplification of the methanol process, significantly reducing capital investment and operational cost.A "syngas market" is needed for the infrastructure to function properly. In it, syngas suppliers and users engage in transactions. For its design, two options were selected: bilateral contracts and trading on a syngas spot market. The latter provides flexibility and acts as a price determinate for low quality syngas. All low quality syngas is bought by a "transport services" company, which places it in a common pool from which users can buy the quantities they need.