Modelling and Simulation of Benzene Production from Biogas using Zeolite Catalyst
Abstract
Biogas has emerged as a promising sustainable resource due to its abundant methane content, which can be converted into valuable chemicals. This study investigates benzene production from biogas using a Mo/HZSM-5 catalyst in a packed bed reactor, aiming to provide an alternative feedstock for the petrochemical industry. A process model was developed using DWSim software to simulate and optimize the benzene production process. The simulation demonstrated that with a biogas feed of 7.5 kiloton/year, benzene production reached 1.2 kiloton/year, yielding 0.16% with a reactor conversion efficiency of 43.89%. Key process parameters were analyzed to ensure feasibility and sustainability, including energy consumption (0.6 MW heating, 0.8 MW cooling, and 0.2 MW electricity). The separation of CO₂ and light gases was achieved using a mixed-matrix membrane, followed by benzene purification through absorption and distillation, achieving a final purity of over 98%-mol. Compared to conventional benzene production methods from shale gas or LPG, this process offers lower energy requirements and improved yield, making it a viable approach for industrial implementation. This study not only presents a detailed simulation but also highlights the potential of biogas as a renewable feedstock for benzene synthesis, contributing to sustainable chemical production. Further techno-economic analysis and experimental validation are recommended to assess scalability and commercial feasibility.
References
Abanades, S., Abbaspour, H., Ahmadi, A., Das, B., Ehyaei, M. A., Esmaeilion, F., El Haj Assad, M., Hajilounezhad, T., Jamali, D. H., Hmida, A., Ozgoli, H. A., Safari, S., AlShabi, M., & Bani-Hani, E. H., 2022. “A critical review of biogas production and usage with legislations framework across the globe.” Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 19(4), 3377–3400. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-021-03301-6.
Andreasen, A., 2022. “Evaluation of an Open-source Chemical Process Simulator Using a Plant-wide Oil and Gas Separation Plant Flowsheet Model as Basis.” Period. Polytech. Chem. Eng. 66, 503–511. https://doi.org/10.3311/PPch.19678
Bharathiraja, B., Sudharsana, T., Jayamuthunagai, J., Praveenkumar, R., Chozhavendhan, S., Iyyappan, J., 2018. “Biogas production–A review on composition, fuel properties, feed stock and principles of anaerobic digestion.” Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 90, 570–582. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2018.03.093
Calbry-Muzyka, A., Madi, H., Rüsch-Pfund, F., Gandiglio, M., Biollaz, S., 2022. “Biogas composition from agricultural sources and organic fraction of municipal solid waste.” Renew. Energy 181, 1000–1007. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2021.09.100
Chanenchuk, B., Evans, A., 2015. Natural Gas to BTX Natural Gas to BTX.
Chawla, M., Saulat, H., Masood Khan, M., Mahmood Khan, M., Rafiq, S., Cheng, L., Iqbal, T., Rasheed, M.I., Farooq, M.Z., Saeed, M., Ahmad, N.M., Khan Niazi, M.B., Saqib, S., Jamil, F., Mukhtar, A., Muhammad, N., 2020. “Membranes for CO2/CH4 and CO2/N2 gas separation.” Chem. Eng. Technol. 43(2), 184–199. https://doi.org/10.1002/ceat.201900375
Chozhavendhan, S., Gnanavel, G., Karthiga Devi, G., Subbaiya, R., Praveen Kumar, R., Bharathiraja, B., 2020. Enhancement of Feedstock Composition and Fuel Properties for Biogas Production. In: Praveen Kumar, R., Bharathiraja, B., Kataki, R., Moholkar, V. (eds) Biomass Valorization to Bioenergy. Energy, Environment, and Sustainability. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0410-5_9
Consoli, D., Jelveh, N., Kotecha, H., Lee, S., 2013. Natural Gas to BTX.
Corbettaa, M., Manenti, F., Linanb, L.Z., Limab, N.M., Ranzia, E. and Pieruccia, S., 2014. “Multi-scale simulation of propane valorization to BTX as a co-product from algal oil hydroprocessing.” Chem. Eng. Transaction 37, 559-564. https://doi.org/10.3303/CET1437094
Cubides-Román, D., Constantino, A., David, G., Martins, L., dos Santos, R., Romão, W., Cunha Neto, A., Lacerda Jr., V., 2018. “Methyl esters production by heterogeneous catalyst mixtures of CaO/Nb2O5 with simulation of analysis of environmental impacts.” J. Braz. Chem. Soc. 30(3), 562-570. http://doi.org/10.21577/0103-5053.20180204
Deng, R., Wu, J., Huang, Z., 2024. “Biogas to chemicals: a review of the state-of-the-art conversion processes.” Biomass Conv. Bioref. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-024-06343-1
Hu, W., Wu, J., Huang, Z., Tan, H., Tang, Y., Feng, Z., Deng, R., Zhang, H., Zairov, R., & Pan, Z., 2024. “Catalyst development for biogas dry reforming: A review of recent progress.” Catalysts 14(8), 494. https://doi.org/10.3390/catal14080494
Iliuta, M.C., Iliuta, I., Grandjean, B.P.A., Larachi, F., 2003. “Kinetics of methane nonoxidative aromatization over Ru-Mo/HZSM-5 catalyst.” Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 42, 3203–3209.
Lackner, M., Fei, Q., Guo, S., Yang, N., Guan, X., & Hu, P., 2024. “Biomass gasification as a scalable, green route to combined heat and power (CHP) and synthesis gas for materials: A review.” Fuels 5(4), 625–649. https://doi.org/10.3390/fuels5040034
Niziolek, A.M., One, O.F., Floudas, C.A., 2016. Production of Benzene, Toluene, and the Xylenes from Natural Gas via Methanol, Computer Aided Chemical Engineering. Elsevier Masson SAS.
Pérez-Uresti, S.I., Adrián-Mendiola, J.M., El-Halwagi, M.M., Jiménez-Gutiérrez, A., 2017. “Techno-economic assessment of benzene production from shale gas.” Processes 5(3), 33. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr5030033
Shaw, I.D.J., Gb, M., Law, B.R., Gb, L., Ab, A.A., Se, S., C, U.S., 2006. (12) United States Patent. Patent is extended or adjusted under 35 2.
Spivey, J.J., Hutchings, G., 2014. “Catalytic aromatization of methane.” Chem. Soc. Rev. 43, 792–803. https://doi.org/10.1039/C3CS60259A
Surya Murali, R., Ismail, A.F., Rahman, M.A., Sridhar, S., 2014. “Mixed matrix membranes of Pebax-1657 loaded with 4A zeolite for gaseous separations.” Sep. Purif. Technol. 129, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2014.03.017
Tangsriwong, K., Lapchit, P., Kittijungjit, T., Klamrassamee, T., Sukjai, Y., Laoonual, Y., 2020. “Modeling of chemical processes using commercial and open-source software: A comparison between Aspen Plus and DWSIM.” IOP Conf. Ser. Earth Environ. Sci. 463, 012057. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/463/1/012057
Ubam, U.S., Bello, A., Amoka, U.D., Adamu, A.G., 2019. “Benzene-Toluene-Xylene production process from liquefied petroleum gas using Aspen HYSYS and Aspen Energy Analyzer.” Int. J. Res. Sci. Innov. VI, 26-42.
Van Der Mynsbrugge, J., Visur, M., Olsbye, U., Beato, P., Bjorgen, M., Van Speybroeck, V., Svelle, S., 2012. “Methylation of benzene by methanol: Single-site kinetics over H-ZSM-5 and H-beta zeolite catalysts.” J. Catal. 292, 201–212. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcat.2012.05.015
Xu, Y., Liu, S., Guo, X., Wang, L., Xie, M., 1994. “Methane activation without using oxidants over Mo/HZSM-5 zeolite catalysts.” Catal. Letters 30(1), 135–149. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00813680
Yao, B., Chen, J., Liu, D., Fang, D., 2008. “Intrinsic kinetics of methane aromatization under nonoxidative conditions over modified Mo/HZSM-5 catalysts.” J. Nat. Gas Chem. 17, 64–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1003-9953(08)60027-4.
Copyright (c) 2025 ASEAN Journal of Chemical Engineering
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Copyright holder for articles is ASEAN Journal of Chemical Engineering. Articles published in ASEAN J. Chem. Eng. are distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license.
Authors agree to transfer all copyright rights in and to the above work to the ASEAN Journal of Chemical Engineering Editorial Board so that the Editorial Board shall have the right to publish the work for non-profit use in any media or form. In return, authors retain: (1) all proprietary rights other than copyright; (2) re-use of all or part of the above paper in their other work; (3) right to reproduce or authorize others to reproduce the above paper for authors’ personal use or for company use if the source and the journal copyright notice is indicated, and if the reproduction is not made for the purpose of sale.
