Downstream Technology Editor
IGP Methanol LLC (IGPM), Houston, has secured approval from state regulators to build and operate its proposed 7.2 million-tonne/year Gulf Coast Methanol Complex (GCMC) on a 140-acre parcel adjacent to the Mississippi River near Myrtle Grove in Plaquemines Parish, La.
The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) issued a Title V air-quality operating permit for the grassroots complex on Jan. 4, IGPM said.
To be developed in four phases, the GCMC, once completed, will include four identical methanol trains, each capable of producing 1.8 million tpy of methanol from natural gas using proprietary methanol-conversion technology licensed by Haldor Topsoe AS, the operator said.
IGPM-which, alongside selection of technology and engineering providers, also has selected project partners for natural gas supply, gas transportation, oxygen and nitrogen supply, as well as storage and loading-additionally will build common services infrastructure for the complex.
GCMC is scheduled to begin production in late 2020, IGPM said.
Once in operation, GCMC will produce refined methanol from gas, water, and oxygen, which will be sent to dedicated tanks and transferred to associated marine vessel-loading facilities for export.
As part of the project, IGPM will install a product-loading system at the existing dock with a vapor-recovery system to recycle product back to the complex to reduce emissions and provide best-in-class safety, according to IGPM's web site.