Techno-economic analysis of pilot scale carbon nanotube production from LPG with Fe-Co-Mo/MgO catalyst in Indonesia

The demand for carbon nanotube (CNT) in Indonesia is increasing every year. Until this time, CNT production and commercialization are constrained by expensive processes. CNT carbon source that is potential because of its low price is liquified petroleum gas (LPG). To realize the CNT production in Indonesia, techno-economic analysis of CNT production from LPG is needed. CNT is produced by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method using Fe-Co-Mo/MgO catalyst. Production is done using a fluidized bed reactor equipped by cyclone for separating CNT from residual gas. CNT synthesis in the reactor is done at temperature 900 - 1000o C and atmospheric pressure. CNT purified with HNO3 acid treatment, followed by neutralization using H2O and drying. The process produced 99% purity CNT with capacity 200 - 250 kilograms per year. Argon recovery is applied to the process to reduce argon utilization by up to 85%. The whole process requires up to 210000 kJ/day energy consumption. CNT produced would have IDR 5300 selling price per gram. The economic analysis result shows it has 18.88% on IRR, NPV above IDR 1.2 billion, and less than 5 years on the payback period. These values show that CNT production is a profitable investigation and could open an opportunity for developing CNT production with low price in Indonesia.