Dimethyl Ether (DME) Synthesis from Carbon Dioxide-Rich Syngas

Abstract

In the Liquid Phase Dimethyl Ether (LPDME) process, methanol synthesis catalyst (Cu/ZnO/Al2O3) and the methanol dehydration catalyst (?-alumina) are slurried in the inert liquid medium. The inert liquid medium used in this investigation is a white mineral oil such as Witco-40 and Witco-70. This multi-phase, dual-catalytic reaction is conducted in a mechanically agitated slurry reactor. In this process syngas conversion can be significantly improved by co-production of dimethyl ether along with methanol. The co-production strategy improves the thermodynamic and kinetic environment of the reaction system. This process can be operated advantageously using both CO-rich and CO2-rich syngas feed compositions. The study shows that his process has a superior tolerance to carbon dioxide concentration in the feed. Thus, unbalanced syngas derived from coal gasification as well as syngas derived from CO2-rich natural gas can be used for this process. In this investigation, the role of carbon dioxide-rich syngas in dimethyl ether synthesis, and its effect on reaction mechanism and process feasibility will be studied.

Department(s)

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 1998 American Chemical Society (ACS), All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jan 1998

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