Methanation is a process that combines gaseous oxides of carbon with hydrogen gas to create methane. It removes unwanted carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide from waste gases and materials used for ammonia production, resulting in the production of a useful fuel similar to natural gas. Methanation is used to treat the feedstock to keep ammonia synthesis at peak yield and to remove potentially harmful carbon oxides released by coal-fired power plants and factories. The methane produced is useful as a fuel and an industrial chemical, similar to natural gas.
Methanation is the process of creating methane (CH4) by combining gaseous oxides of carbon with hydrogen gas. This process can be performed under a variety of conditions, but is most commonly used as a treatment for waste gases produced by coal-fired power plants and similar facilities, as well as during one type of ammonia production procedure. Methanation has two benefits: it removes unwanted carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide from the exhaust gases and materials used for ammonia production, and it results in the production of a useful fuel similar to natural gas.
The process of methanation, also known as gasification, has been known for almost a hundred years, but has only become common on an industrial scale since the 1970s to remove gaseous oxides of carbon to purify the raw materials used in the production of ammonia. In the industrial production of ammonia, ammonia is synthesized with the help of a catalyst. The presence of even small quantities of carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide in the raw materials can make the catalyst ineffective, significantly lowering production. For this reason, methanation is used to treat the feedstock to keep the ammonia synthesis at peak yield.
It is also an environmentally and financially effective method of removing potentially harmful carbon oxides released by coal-fired power plants and factories. Hydrogen gas (H2) is introduced into the exhaust stream in a controlled environment where it combines with carbon oxides to produce methane and water. The process must be carefully controlled as the reaction releases a large amount of energy in the form of heat. Many different types of methanation apparatus have been designed and built over the past hundred years, but they all operate on the same basic principle of combining hydrogen and carbon oxides.
The methane produced by methanation is useful as a fuel and an industrial chemical. It is the main component of natural gas, a natural blend of fossil hydrocarbons extracted from the Earth and used as fuel. The methane produced by methanation is known as syngas denoting its similarity to natural gas without its normally present impurities. It can be used in the same way that natural gas is used.
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