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Fakultät BCI
Sunset at the North Campus © Roland Baege​/​TU Dortmund
Thesis Offer

Master Thesis: Development of a Dynamic Model for the Green Methanol Process

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in
  • Thesis offer
© Jens Ehlhardt​/​TU Dortmund

Introduction

The chemical industry heavily depends on hydrogen for its processes and base chemicals. Consequently, the use of “green” hydrogen that is based on renewable energy sources play a major role in the change towards a more sustainable industry [1]. One promising approach is the production of “green” methanol in which “green” hydrogen and carbon dioxide are directly converted into methanol [2, 3]. Methanol is an important base chemical in the industry and just in 2022, 111 million tons of methanol was produced [4].

The “green” hydrogen is obtained through electrolysis using (excess) renewable energy. The capture of CO2 from exhaust gas can further improve the environmental footprint. A key to the success of this technology is the exploitation of the fluctuations in the availability of “green” energy in the power grid by highly flexible plants.

In this joint work with ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions AG, an existing model (green box) of a flexible green methanol plant in Aspen Custom Modeler and Aspen Plus Dynamics is to be transferred to the Aveva simulation environment. The model needs to be extended (orange box) to describe the entire CO2 based methanol production process. Furthermore, the work includes the development of a suitable control strategy to enable dynamic simulations. Later, the dynamic simulations may be used to identify critical transition states.

Objectives

  • Review of existing literature
  • Investigation of the existing ASPEN (ACM/Dynamics) model
  • Transfer of the model into the Aveva software and extension of the model
  • Control structure selection and controller tuning
  • Optional: Identification of critical operating conditions during load changes by dynamic simulations.

Prerequisites

  • Interest in modelling and process control
  • Programming skills (e.g. MATLAB)
  • Software skills (e.g. Aspen (ACM/Dynamics), Aveva or similar)

Literature

[1] W. Grosse Entrup, Wasserstoff für eine CO2-neutrale Chemiebranche, www.vdi-nachrichten.co/aus-dem-vdi/wasserstoff-fuer-eine-co2-neutrale-chemiebranche/, 2021, (accessed: 21.10.2022)

[2] F. Nestler, V. P. Müller, M. Ouda, M. J. Hadrich, A. Schaadt, S. Bajohr, T. Kolb, React. Chem. Eng. 2021, 6 (6), 1092–1107. DOI: 10.1039/d1re00071c.

[3] F. Nestler, A. R. Schütze, M. Ouda, M. J. Hadrich, A. Schaadt, S. Bajohr, T. Kolb, Chem. Eng. J. 2020, 394 (December 2019), 124881. DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2020.124881.

[4] www.statista.com/statistics/1323406/methanol-production-worldwide/(accessed: 24.10.2022)

Other

Beginning: As soon as possible.

Duration: 6 month full time, student will be employed by ThyssenKrupp Uhde

Please e-mail your application including your CV and grades to Mr. Ambrosy.

  • Dr. Jonas Moritz Ambrosy, Tel.: 0231 / 547-7471, jonas-moritz.ambrosy@thyssenkrupp.com
  • Sina Kunz, Tel.: 06196 / 205-1733, sina.kunz@thyssenkrupp.com

You can contact us for any further questions. We can discuss all the details in a personal consultation.

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