Celanese Corporation announced that its Clear Lake, Texas integrated chemical manufacturing facility will begin utilizing recycled carbon dioxide (CO2) as an alternative feedstock in the production of methanol.
Methanol is a key raw material in the manufacture of numerous acetyls products, including acetic acid, vinyl acetate monomer (VAM), ethyl acetate and other derivatives.
This carbon capture and reuse process is expected to produce sustainable methanol with a high capital efficiency at competitive pricing via an expansion of the company’s Fairway joint venture.
The methanol production unit at the Clear Lake facility, operated as Fairway Methanol LLC, is a manufacturing joint venture between Celanese and Mitsui & Co., Ltd., and will contribute to the sustainability targets of both companies.
Once fully operational, it is expected that by using by-product CO2 in the production of methanol, after a low capital capacity expansion, the 1.62 million metric ton Fairway production unit will eliminate the waste equivalent of approximately 39,000 automobiles per year from U.S. highways, thereby displacing approximately 180,000 metric tons of CO2.
Furthermore, an estimated 60% of currently vented process CO2 from the entire Clear Lake site will be transformed into sustainable methanol.
“Celanese is committed to protecting the Earth’s natural resources and helping our partners and customers do the same,” said Lori Ryerkerk, Celanese Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
“To underscore our commitment, we are taking strategic steps aimed at reducing our operational impact globally, and the work we are doing with recycled CO2 at our Clear Lake facility is a significant step forward for Celanese in our efforts to preserve the environment and be a responsible community partner in the reduction of carbon waste and emissions.”
CO2 capture and reuse further demonstrates the company’s commitment to sustainability and the potential impact to the broader Celanese portfolio as the company is both a consumer of upstream products and a supplier of sustainable materials to other products within the portfolio. As such, the benefits of CO2 capture and reuse can be allocated or derivatized to the company’s engineered materials, acetyl chain or acetate tow product offerings.