Process for synthesising methanol

A process for synthesising methanol comprising the steps of:

• (i) passing a hydrocarbon feedstock to a synthesis gas generation unit to form a synthesis gas containing hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and steam, wherein the synthesis gas contains 2.5 to 7% by volume of carbon dioxide on a wet basis;
• (ii) cooling the synthesis gas in one or more stages of heat exchange and recovering a process condensate from the cooled synthesis gas to form a make-up gas having a stoichiometry value R in the range of 1.70 to 1.94;
• (iii) passing a feed gas comprising the make-up gas to a methanol synthesis unit comprising one or more methanol synthesis reactors containing a copper methanol synthesis catalyst, and;
• (iv) recovering a purge gas and a crude methanol product from the methanol synthesis unit, wherein a hydrogen-rich gas is recovered from the purge gas and combined with the make-up gas, and a stream of water or steam is added to the feed gas to the methanol synthesis unit.