World demand for methanol is forecast to increase over the next several years. The largest users of the methanol sold in the United States are companies that make methyl t-butyl ether (MTBE), a gasoline additive. This use is likely to reduce in the USA, however, the MTBE demand is increasing in Europe. Companies also use methanol to make chemicals such as formaldehyde, acetic acid, chloromethanes, and methyl methacrylate. Companies add methanol to paint strippers, plastic containers, silicone, aerosol spray paints, wall paints, carburetor cleaners, and car windshield washer products. Methanol is also a gasoline additive and, in some cases, a gasoline substitute for use in automobiles and other small engines. Methanol can be economically burnt in gas turbines for electricity generation.

The emerging fuel cell technologies offer the largest future market for methanol. The majority of fuel cell designs require methanol as their fuel input, particularly in commercial and domestic vehicles. Fuel cells are an electrochemical battery, where hydrogen derived from the methanol is passed over one electrode and air containing oxygen passed over the other. As combustion occurs within the fuel cell, free electrons travel from one electrode to the other, providing constant electrical energy. The energy conversion efficiency of fuel cells is three times higher than traditional motor vehicle engines and produces only a fraction of the emissions.

The new Clean Air Acts in Europe and the United States are expected to result in rapid introduction of fuel cell technologies. Some commercial vehicles already operate with fuel cells. Both Chrysler and Mercedes Benz have announced the introduction of domestic cars fitted with the fuel cell drives as early as 2003, with most other car manufactures expected to follow soon afterwards.

What Happens To Methanol In The Environment?
Methanol evaporates when exposed to air. It dissolves completely when mixed with water. Most direct releases of methanol to the environment are to air. Methanol also evaporates from water and soil exposed to air. Once in air, it breaks down to other chemicals. Microorganisms that live in water and in soil can also break down methanol. Because it is a liquid that does not bind well to soil, methanol that makes its way into the ground can move through the ground and enter groundwater. Plants and animals are not likely to store methanol.

How Does Methanol Affect Human Health And The Environment?
Effects of methanol on human health and the environment depend on how much methanol is present and the length and frequency of exposure. Effects also depend on the health of a person or the condition of the environment when exposure occurs.

Exposure to methanol can occur in the workplace or in the environment following releases to air, water, land, or groundwater. Exposure can occur when people use certain paint strippers, aerosol spray paints, wall paints, windshield wiper fluid, and small engine fuel. Methanol enters the body when breathed in with contaminated air or when consumed with contaminated food or water. It can also be absorbed through skin contact. It does not remain in the body due to its breakdown and removal in expired air or urine.

People have died as a result of drinking large amounts of methanol. Drinking smaller, non-lethal amounts of methanol adversely affects the human nervous system. Effects range from headaches to incoordination similar to that associated with drunkenness. Delayed effects such as severe abdominal, leg, and back pain can follow the inebriation effects of methanol. Loss of vision and even blindness can also occur after exposure to amounts of methanol causing inebriation. These effects are not likely to occur at levels of methanol that are normally found in the environment.

Human health effects associated with breathing or otherwise consuming smaller amounts of methanol over long periods of time are not known. Workers repeatedly exposed to methanol have experienced several adverse effects. Effects range from headaches to sleep disorders and gastrointestinal problems to optic nerve damage. Laboratory studies show that repeat exposure to large amounts of methanol in air or in drinking water cause similar adverse effects in animals.

Methanol by itself is not likely to cause environmental harm at levels normally found in the environment. Methanol can contribute to the formation of photochemical smog when it reacts with other volatile organic carbon substances in air.

How Is Methanol Made
The production is one of the simplest petrochemical processes and the production facilities are safe and reliable to operate.

The basic manufacturing process utilizes to following steps:

1. Feed Gas Preparation: the removal of unwanted materials from the natural gas stream including free water and sulphur compounds,

2. Reforming: to make syngas. The Tassie Shoal Methanol Project's gas reforming facility is designed to utilize a conventional steam methane reformer (SMR), which benefits from the higher levels of carbon dioxide in the raw gas. The SMR plant is broken into two separate reformers so they can comfortably fit on the existing and approved concrete gravity base design.

   The gas reforming equipment is the fundamental basis of gas to liquids conversion. At this stage of the process the methane contained in the natural gas stream is saturated with pure water and by the use of heat and catalysts converted into synthesis gas. In the SMR the feed gas reacts over a nickel based catalyst at high temperature (approximately 600°C) to form a mixture of H20, CO, CO2, H2 and CH4 known as synthesis gas or reformed gas.

   The reforming reactions are endothermic requiring a net input of heat to drive the reactions. The heat is supplied by burning a hydrogen rich fuel (made up from a natural gas stream and recycled process gases) in the SMR. The heat is transferred from the hot flue gases to the reactants by a combination of radiative and convective heat transfer. The reforming reactions are as follows:

   CH4 + H20 <-> CO + 3 H2 steam-methane reforming
   CO + H20 <-> CO2 + H2  water gas shift

3. Heat Recovery: to make process efficient. In the SMR, heat from combustion and the reformed gas is recovered internally to reduce the overall fuel requirements. Heat is recovered from the reactor effluent in a cooling train. It is used to raise steam as well as supplying heat to the process. Waste heat from the flue gases for each reactor is recovered in a combined heat recovery duct, superheats the steam, supplies heat to the process and preheats the fuel and combustion air.

4. Methanol Synthesis: converting syngas into methanol product. The synthesis gas stream feeds directly into a one pass, low-pressure, multi-stage methanol synthesis section.

   Multiple methanol converters are used to achieve an acceptable conversion of carbon oxides to methanol. The synthesis reaction is exothermic and this heat is used to raise further steam, which also allows precise control of the process temperatures. After each reactor, the crude methanol is condensed and then separated from the vapour in knock-out pots, except for the final stage where water is used in a methanol wash column to maximise methanol recovery. Interchangers are used around each converter to recover as much heat as possible.

   Any unconverted gas is recycled back to the reformer via a membrane separation unit, which is either added to the process feed gas flow or provides additional hydrogen-rich fuel for the reformer. A recycle saturator adds steam to the recovered gases before the recycle gas is mixed with the fresh feed gas entering the CR.

   The main reactions taking place in the methanol synthesis area are as follows:

   CO2 + 3H2 <-> CH3OH + H2O
   CO + 2H2 <-> CH3OH

5. Refining: the removal of impurities from the methanol. The crude methanol is reduced in pressure and the flash gas is washed with water recycled from the distillation refining column. The crude methanol is fed to the topping column, which separates the light ends and then to the refining column, which separates the product and water for recycle.

   Methanol can be refined to either fuel or chemical grade. The methanol for the first plant is stored within the internal storage cells in the CGS providing a total storage volume of 150,000m³ with a further 80,000m³ designed for the second CGS and methanol plant. These storage tanks are incorporated into the substructure of each CGS. The product is then ready for shipment.