What is Methanol?
Methanol (CH3OH) is
a type of alcohol used in a number of consumer
products, including paint strippers,
duplicator fluid, model airplane fuel, and dry
gas. Most windshield washer fluids are 50
percent methanol.
Methanol is one of a number
of fuels that could substitute for gasoline or
diesel fuel in passenger cars, light trucks,
and heavy-duty trucks and buses. In fact,
methanol is the only fuel used in
Indianapolis-type racecars.
Methanol is also called
"wood alcohol" because it was once produced as
a byproduct of the destructive distillation of
wood. Today in a modern methanol plant,
natural gas is converted into synthesis gas (syngas),
which is then heated under pressure in the
presence of a catalyst to form methanol.
Unlike ethanol (the type of
alcohol in adult beverages and some
medicines), methanol is highly toxic and
should never be taken orally. |
Non-profit MultiEnergi has invested in piping
and tunneling to circulate warmed seawater from
the methanol plant's cooling system to a nearby
fish farm. This clean seawater is also treated
with pure oxygen from the plant's air separation
unit. The first fish was introduced in the spring
of 2001, and the farm expects to raise halibut
(and later turbot) for harvest beginning in 2004.
The fish farm creates local
jobs and reduces pressure on Norway's native
fish population. |
The fish farm has extended the life cycle of
energy from the methanol plant and created local
jobs and food products for export and domestic
consumption, reducing pressure on Norway's native
fish population. The fish-farm project has
tremendous growth potential given the size and
demand of local and international markets.
Future developments related to the fish farm
may include facilities for filleting and freezing
the harvested fish, possibly using liquid oxygen
and nitrogen from the methanol plant's air
separation unit.
One venture has shown interest in farming baby
lobsters until they are big enough to be released
in nearby coastal waters. Still other ventures are
interested in using natural gas to heat
greenhouses, melt recycled glass for use in
reflective highway paint, and using waste carbon
dioxide from the plant to grow algae.
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This is a crystal structure
model of the bioprotein manufactured in
Tjeldbergodden from the bacteria
Methylococcus capsulatus. |
Also in Tjeldbergodden, Norferm (owned by
Statoil) produces bioproteins from bacteria that
thrive
on natural gas. Bioprotein is an edible
solid matter consisting of approximately 70
percent protein.
It is produced by fermenting
bacteria
in a warm slurry of natural gas, oxygen,
ammonia and various salts and minerals -- all from
the nearby methanol plant. The bioproteins
produced in Tjeldbergodden will initially be used
as fish feed, and subsequently for animal feed and
certain products for human consumption.
Waste heat, carbon dioxide and
solar power are used to grow high-value fruit,
vegetables, and herbs that could not be grown
commercially so close to the Arctic Circle. |
MultiEnergi also is using waste heat, carbon
dioxide and solar power to grow high-value fruit,
vegetables, and herbs that could not be grown
commercially so close to the Arctic Circle. This
produce, too, is marketed both inside Norway and
in neighboring countries.
Conoco's participation in MultiEnergi is
another example of the company's commitment to the
principle of
sustainable development
sustainable development
and its focus on developing more efficient ways of
finding, producing and processing the oil and gas
required to fuel economic growth and social
progress, while further reducing the impact of
operational activities on the environment.
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