Based on the composition characteristics of crude syngas from coal gasification unit, process and tech. characteristics of adiabatic and isothermal CO shift were introduced by analyzing the principles and reaction factors.Taking a coal-to-methanol project with the annual output of 180x10∼4 t as an example, two CO shift process schemes were compared and analyzed from the aspects of process layout, major equipment, tech. economy and capital investment.The results show that the CO isothermal shift process has the advantages of more stable operation, shorter process, higher heat recovery efficiency, and less investment, which are in line with the actual needs of the project.By means of Aspen Plus software, a process calculation model of CO isothermal shift was established and good results were obtained, which could be used as reference for engineering design.