TCX Technology

TCX Technology is the brand name for a hydrocarbon-based ethanol production process developed and marketed by Celanese Corporation. Celanese researchers developed the TCX Technology in its Clear Lake City, Texas plant under the direction of its CEO to create a fuel that helps countries reduce their need to import oil and gas.[1] Celanese launched the TCX Technology in November 2010[2] and plans to invest $700 million[1] to build one-to-two plants in China and one in Texas that will produce TCX-based ethanol.[3] Celanese expects to produce approximately 300 million gallons of TCX ethanol by 2016.[4]

Process

In the TCX process, natural gas or other hydrocarbons are first converted to acetic acid. Thereafter, acetic acid is hydrogenated (presumably obtained by methane reforming) to give ethanol; a supported platinum-tin catalyst for this purpose was patented by Celanese.[5] Starting from coal, it is gasified. Impurities such as mercury and cadmium are removed, before further reaction.[1]

Economic viability

The process for making ethanol from hydrocarbons is cheaper than using corn. The energy return on corn ethanol is about 1.3 units of energy for every 1 energy unit invested into the corn process from planting to processing. Sugar cane delivers roughly 8 units of energy while drilling for oil delivers 5 times to 20 times return on energy. Mining coal delivers a return of approximately 50 times.[6] Traditional ethanol trades around $2.75 per gallon[6] while Celanese can produce hydrocarbon-based ethanol for $1.50 to $1.75 per gallon.[7]This, of course, is a slanted statement because nobody sells anything for free. Traditional ethanol is traded for around $2.75 per gallon, but it costs less than that to produce; on the same note, it may cost $1.75 to produce Coal derived Ethanol and it will surely be traded at a higher value.

Uses

TCX can function as a fuel additive to operate vehicles and in industrial-grade applications to manufacture paints, coatings, inks and pharmaceuticals.[7] It is intended for use in countries or regions wanting to lessen dependence on imported energy and with easy access to plentiful hydrocarbons. These include China, Middle East, Southeast Asia, South America, United States and other developing and growing countries.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Ernest Scheyder (Jun 15, 2011). "Celanese faces U.S. road block on ethanol". Reuters.
  2. ↑ Celanese News Release: Celanese Develops Advanced Technology for Production of Industrial-Use Ethanol Nov. 9, 2010
  3. ↑ Doris de Guzman and Stefan Baumgarten (10 January 2011). "News Focus: Celanese to enter China fuels market with coal-to-ethanol plants". ICIS Chemical Business.
  4. ↑ Christopher Helman (Apr 3, 2012). "Ethanol, Minus The Corn: It Could Fuel America If It Weren’t Illegal". Forbes.
  5. ↑ US patent 7863489, V. J. Johnston; L. Chen & B. F. Kimmich et al., "Direct and Selective Production of Ethanol from Acetic Acid utilizing a Platinum/Tin Catalyst", issued 2011-01-04, assigned to Celanese International Corporation
  6. 1 2 Christopher Helman (Nov 16, 2010). "A Name You Need to Know in 2011: Celanese". Forbes.
  7. 1 2 "Market access will save US from $4 gasoline, says FuelChoiceNow". BiofuelsDigest. Sep 21, 2011.

External links

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