TCX Technology is the brand name for a
hydrocarbon
In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and hydrophobic, and their odors are usually weak or ex ...
-based
ethanol
Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl ...
production process developed and marketed by
Celanese Corporation
Celanese Corporation, formerly known as Hoechst Celanese, is an American technology and specialty materials company headquartered in Irving, Texas. A Fortune 500 corporation, the company is the world’s leading producer of acetic acid, produc ...
. Celanese researchers developed the TCX Technology in its
Clear Lake City, Texas
Clear Lake City is a master-planned community located in southeast Harris County, Texas, within the Bay Area of Greater Houston. It is the second-largest master-planned community in Houston – behind Kingwood. The majority of the communi ...
plant under the direction of its CEO to create a fuel that helps countries reduce their need to import oil and gas.
Celanese launched the TCX Technology in November 2010 and plans to invest $700 million
[ to build one-to-two plants in China and one in Texas that will produce TCX-based ethanol. Celanese expects to produce approximately 300 million gallons of TCX ethanol by 2016.]
Process
In the TCX process, natural gas or other hydrocarbons are first converted to acetic acid
Acetic acid , systematically named ethanoic acid , is an acidic, colourless liquid and organic compound with the chemical formula (also written as , , or ). Vinegar is at least 4% acetic acid by volume, making acetic acid the main component ...
. 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.gasified
Gasification is a process that converts biomass- or fossil fuel-based carbonaceous materials into gases, including as the largest fractions: nitrogen (N2), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen (H2), and carbon dioxide (). This is achieved by reactin ...
. Impurities such as mercury and cadmium are removed, before further reaction.[
Celanese claims to be able to produce hydrocarbon-based ethanol for a cost of $1.50 to $1.75 per gallon.]
Uses
TCX can function as a fuel additive to operate vehicles and in industrial-grade applications to manufacture paints, coatings, inks and pharmaceuticals.[ 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
External links
{{Portal, Companies
Official product site
Official company site
Fuel production
Ethanol fuel