| Summary: | This study presents design considerations and an evaluation of a full-scale process chain for methanol and advanced drop-in fuel production derived from lignite/solid recovered fuel (SRF) feedstock. The plant concept consists of a high-temperature Winkler (HTW) gasifier coupled with an air separation unit (ASU), which provides a high-purity (99.55%) gasification oxidant agent. The concept includes the commercially proven acid gas removal (AGR) system based on cold methanol (e.g., Rectisol<sup>®</sup> process) for the removal of BTX and naphthalene components. With the involvement of Rectisol<sup>®</sup>, an almost pure CO<sub>2</sub> off-gas stream is generated that can be further stored or utilized (CCS/CCU), and a smaller CO<sub>2</sub> stream containing H<sub>2</sub>S is recovered and subsequently driven to the sulfur recovery unit (e.g., Claus process). One of the potential uses of methanol is considered, and a methanol upgrading unit is implemented. The overall integrated process model was developed in the commercial software Aspen Plus<sup>TM</sup>. Simulations for different feedstock ratios were investigated, ensuring the concept’s adaptability in each case without major changes. A number of parametric studies were performed concerning (a) the oxygen purity and (b) the reformer type, and a comparison against alternative methanol production routes was conducted. Simulations show that the proposed system is able to retain the cold gas efficiency (CGE) in the range of 79–81.1% and the energetic fuel efficiency (EFE) at around 51%. An efficient conversion of approximately 99.5% of the carbon that enters the gasifiers is accomplished, with around 45% of carbon being captured in the form of pure CO<sub>2</sub>. Finally, the metrics of EFE and total C for the conversion of methanol to liquid fuels were 40.7% and 32%, respectively, revealing that the proposed pathway is an effective alternative for methanol valorization.
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