Patent ID: 8461218

Claim:
A method for rendering petroleum oil as an essentially environmentally carbon dioxide-neutral fuel and regenerative carbon source for producing methanol or dimethyl ether, which comprises: subjecting petroleum oil to refining or combustion conditions sufficient to produce carbon dioxide; capturing and purifying the produced carbon dioxide; and combining the purified carbon dioxide with water and a suitable light hydrocarbon fraction having the formulation of C n H (2n+2) , wherein n=1-4, in a molar ratio of 3:(3n−1):1 as 3C n H (2n+2) +(3n−1)H 2 O+CO 2 to conduct a bi-reforming reaction by: conducting steam reforming of the light hydrocarbon fraction with water to form carbon monoxide and hydrogen as follows: (3−1 /n )[C n H (2n+2) +2 n H 2 O→ n CO+(2 n+ 1)H 2 ]; conducting dry reforming of the light hydrocarbon fraction with carbon dioxide to form carbon monoxide and hydrogen as follows: 1 /n [C n H (2n+2) +n CO 2 →2 n CO+( n+ 1)H 2 ]; combining effluents including carbon monoxide and hydrogen from the steam and dry reforming reactions without separation of components of the reforming reactions or their effluents to produce a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide having a molar ratio of hydrogen to carbon monoxide that is about 2:1 to 2.1:1; and converting the molar mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide under conditions sufficient to exclusively form methanol, as follows: (3n+1)CO +(6n+2)H 2 →(3n+1)CH 3 OH, so that the carbon dioxide generated from the petroleum oil is not introduced into the atmosphere, thus rendering the petroleum oil as an essentially environmentally carbon dioxide-neutral fuel and regenerative carbon source.