Andritz to supply a biomethanol plant for a project of Södra in Mönsterås
Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF.
Last September, Södra announced an investment of more than 100
million SEK (approximately, 10.4 M€) in the production of biomethanol from
forest raw material (see press
release, 5/9/2017). The aim is to produce 5,000 tons of biomethanol per
year at a new facility to be located at Södra’s pulp mill at Mönsterås (Sweden).
The project is underway and the evidence of this fact is that the Andritz has received an order from Södra to
supply the biomethanol cleaning and purification plant (see press
release, 18/5/2018). Start-up of the facility is scheduled for the third
quarter of 2019.
Figure 1. Rendering of the Andritz biomethanol
plant to be supplied for Södra’s pulp mill in Mönsterås (extracted from the
press release)
The plant is a key part of a new process
producing sustainable biomethanol from renewable raw material. In the chemical
wood pulping process of Södra’s mill, methanol is formed as a by-product that
contains many impurities. This raw methanol will be purified to a merchantable
biomethanol which is chemically identical to fossil-based methanol. The global
methanol production is in the order of 80 million tons per year and is
generated mostly from fossil raw materials.