equipment_sizingcostingefuel
Pre-feasibility sizing, mass balance, utilities, plot space, and equipment-purchase CAPEX + OPEX for a methanol conversion unit producing olefin/hydrocarbon intermediates for downstream jet-fuel synthesis.
Select the methanol conversion route for screening. 1=MTO, 2=MTP, 3=MTG/MTJ-type hydrocarbon intermediate.
Nameplate methanol feed rate into the conversion unit (fresh feed basis).
min 0 · max 300 · step 1 · t/h
Annual average utilization including downtime (0–100%).
min 0 · max 100 · step 1 · %
Mass yield of methanol to the target intermediate stream (screening aggregate yield including selectivity and losses).
min 0 · max 100 · step 1 · %
Delivered electricity price used for OPEX estimation.
min 0 · max 500 · step 1 · EUR/MWh
Price of imported thermal energy (steam/hot oil). Net heat demand may be reduced by offgas heat recovery.
min 0 · max 300 · step 1 · EUR/MWh
Price for industrial water used as makeup/utility water (screening).
min 0 · max 50 · step 0.1 · EUR/m3
Cost of methanol feedstock (fossil or e-methanol). Upstream methanol synthesis is not costed in this unit model.
min 0 · max 2000 · step 5 · EUR/t
Used to compute CRF for annualizing equipment purchase CAPEX.
min 0 · max 0.3 · step 0.005 · ratio
Amortization period used with the discount rate to annualize CAPEX.
min 1 · max 40 · step 1 · yr
Nominal methanol inlet capacity
Nameplate methanol feed rate to the conversion unit
Number of parallel process trains
Based on max practical single-train throughput
Methanol capacity per train
Capacity split evenly across trains
Estimated total plot space
Includes integration margin for access, pipe-racks, and maintainability
Annual methanol inlet
Based on capacity factor and nameplate throughput
Intermediate outlet flow
Desired intermediate stream for downstream jet-fuel synthesis
Annual intermediate production
Intermediate production at the specified capacity factor
Reaction/separation water produced
Screening estimate of water byproduct requiring separation/handling
Offgas/light-ends to management
Purge, light hydrocarbons, and non-condensables (screening closure)
Annual electricity consumption
Compression, pumps, separation auxiliaries (screening)
Net external heat demand
Gross heat demand minus recoverable offgas energy
Total equipment purchase CAPEX
Sum of conditioning, reactor, separation, polishing, and light-gas management (purchase cost only)
Equipment CAPEX — methanol conditioning
Feed conditioning, preheat, contaminant management (screening scope)
Equipment CAPEX — reactor section
Catalytic reactor(s), quench, primary heat exchange (screening scope)
Equipment CAPEX — water separation
Condensation, phase separation, distillation/dehydration (screening scope)
Equipment CAPEX — intermediate polishing
Intermediate conditioning for downstream synthesis (screening scope)
Equipment CAPEX — light-gas management
Compression/flare/oxidation/recovery interface (screening scope)
Annualized CAPEX (equipment purchase)
Equipment purchase cost annualized using CRF (no installation/indirects)
Annual fixed O&M cost
Scaled and clamped fraction of equipment purchase CAPEX
Annualized catalyst replacement cost
Periodic replacement annualized over catalyst life
Annual utilities cost
Electricity + net heat + makeup water
Annual methanol feedstock cost
Methanol inlet × methanol price
Total annual cost
Annualized CAPEX + O&M + replacement + utilities + methanol
Levelized cost of intermediate
Total annual cost divided by annual intermediate production
Levelized cost (per MWh LHV of intermediate)
Uses assumed intermediate LHV by technology option
Embodied upstream H2 in annual methanol feed (stoichiometric)
Equivalent green H2 that would be required to synthesize the methanol feed from CO2
Embodied upstream CO2 in annual methanol feed (stoichiometric)
Equivalent CO2 that would be required to synthesize the methanol feed
Calculator context
This calculator screens a methanol-to-intermediates conversion unit that produces methanol-derived olefins or hydrocarbon intermediates suitable for downstream jet-fuel synthesis. It estimates mass flows, utilities (heat/electricity), plot space, major equipment train count, and equipment purchase cost + annual costs using a transparent scaling methodology aligned with pre-feasibility practice.
Key reference frameworks include IEA/IRENA cost/efficiency compilation approaches, and standard chemical engineering power-law scaling and capital recovery factor methods widely used in NREL/IEA-style techno-economic assessments.
The model uses the user’s nominal methanol inlet flow (t/h), capacity factor (%), overall yield to desired intermediate (%), and a technology option (MTO/MTP/MTG). Core calculations:
50 assumptions used in the calculations
Prevents division-by-zero and instability in CRF and intensity calculations.
Converts capacity factor to annual operating hours.
Market range 365
Converts days to hours for annualization.
Market range 24
Converts kWh-based intensities to MWh outputs.
Market range 1000
Mass conversion for LHV and offgas energy calculations.
Market range 1000
Converts MJ (LHV) to MWh for energy-normalized outputs.
Market range 0.0002777778
Reference single-train methanol throughput used for scaling subsystem CAPEX and plot area.
Approximates practical maximum throughput for a single train before parallelization at screening level.
Reference plot space per train at ref capacity, representing unit battery limits without major offsites.
Plot space increases sub-linearly with capacity due to economies of scale.
Accounts for access, maintainability, pipe-racks, and integration spacing.
Represents typical oxygen rejection as water in methanol-to-olefins chemistry.
Similar oxygen rejection behavior for methanol-to-propylene/light olefins at screening level.
Hydrocarbon-range products and aromatics formation can shift water yield; this is a simplified typical value.
Represents auxiliaries (pumps, compression, separation) per tonne methanol processed for MTO screening.
Electricity intensity for MTP-like configurations at screening level.
Slightly higher electricity needs reflecting broader separation/conditioning in MTG/MTJ-type routes.
Represents net imported heat before offgas recovery for separation and conditioning duties.
Gross heat demand screening value for MTP-like configuration.
Higher gross heat demand screening value for MTG/MTJ-like routes due to broader fractionation/polishing.
Represents typical LHV of a light-hydrocarbon-rich offgas stream used for heat recovery screening.
Fraction of offgas LHV assumed recoverable as useful heat to offset imported heat demand.
Represents net makeup water for cooling/ancillary uses (not the separated reaction water).
Covers consumables, routine chemicals, waste handling, and minor variable expenses per tonne methanol processed.
Reference annual fixed O&M fraction of equipment purchase cost (labor, maintenance, overhead).
Introduces mild economy-of-scale in fixed O&M fraction with increasing plant capacity.
Lower bound prevents unrealistic fixed O&M at very large scale.
Upper bound prevents unrealistic fixed O&M at very small scale.
Applies power-law scaling of conditioning equipment purchase cost with capacity per train.
Reactor systems often scale slightly less favorably due to metallurgy, heat removal, and internals.
Separation equipment cost scales sub-linearly with capacity due to column sizing and heat exchange economies.
Intermediate polishing (e.g., dehydration, stabilization) scales sub-linearly with capacity.
Light-gas management equipment (flare/recovery) often has weaker capacity dependence at screening level.
Reference equipment purchase cost for conditioning subsystem at ref train capacity.
Reference equipment purchase cost for reactor section at ref train capacity.
Reference equipment purchase cost for separation and dehydration at ref train capacity.
Reference equipment purchase cost for intermediate polishing at ref train capacity.
Reference equipment purchase cost for light-gas management at ref train capacity.
Relative CAPEX factor for MTO baseline option.
Slightly higher CAPEX for MTP-like configuration at screening level.
Higher CAPEX for MTG/MTJ-like intermediate routes reflecting additional separation/polishing complexity.
Lower clamp bound for specific CAPEX to avoid unrealistic values from extreme scaling inputs.
Upper clamp bound for specific CAPEX to avoid runaway values at very small scale.
Represents typical replacement interval for catalytic systems (order-of-magnitude).
Approximates replacement catalyst/adsorbent cost as a fraction of reactor-section equipment cost per replacement event.
Represents LHV of an olefin/hydrocarbon intermediate stream for energy-normalized cost reporting.
LHV assumption for MTP-like intermediate streams.
Approximate LHV for gasoline/jet-range hydrocarbon intermediates, consistent with common jet-fuel LHV reporting (~43 MJ/kg).
From CO2 + 3H2 → CH3OH + H2O: 6 g H2 per 32 g MeOH.
Market range 0.1875
From CO2 + 3H2 → CH3OH + H2O: 44 g CO2 per 32 g MeOH.
Market range 1.375
