Enhancement of DME Production in an Optimized Membrane Isothermal Fixed-Bed Reactor

Abstract

Dimethyl ether is a colorless gas at the ambient condition that is easily liquefied under light pressure. Currently, DME as a green fuel has been suggested as one of the most promising candidates for substitution of LPG and diesel fuel. In this paper, a water cooled membrane fixed bed reactor is proposed and modeled heterogeneously for large scale production of DME from methanol dehydration. The proposed reactor is modeled one-dimensionally based on mass and energy conservation laws at steady state condition. Also, the efficacy of the proposed membrane reactor is investigated and the results of the proposed reactor are compared with an isothermal and commercial adiabatic reactor. The simulation results of the proposed membrane reactor indicate that the methanol conversion is improved about 6.2 percent compared to the conventional industrial reactor. Also, water vapor removal from reaction zone in the membrane reactor yields lower water concentration over the catalyst pellets and higher quality of outlet product. These can lead to higher catalyst lifetime and lower cost in purification stage.