EFFECTS OF VARIOUS PROCESS PARAMETERS ON TEMPERATURE PROFILE OF ADIABATIC FIXED BED REACTOR FOR PRODUCTION OF DIMETHYL ETHER (DME) FROM METHANOL

Abstract

Catalytic dehydration of methanol for production of dimethyl ether (DME) is an exothermic reaction. Therefore, the temperature of the adiabatic reactor of DME production will be increased by the progress of the reaction. In this article, effects of various process parameters are considered on the temperature profile of a fixed catalyst bed in a laboratory-scale reactor of DME production from methanol. Acidic gamma alumina is used for DME production, and effects of inlet feed temperature, flow rate of the feed, pressure of the reactor, and catalyst particle sizes on the temperature profile of the catalyst beds are investigated.

Keywords:

• Adiabatic reactor
• Clean fuel
• Dimethyl ether
• DME
• Methanol

Acknowledgment

This work was financially supported under Grant No. 1010282013 by the Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology (IROST). The authors thank BASF Co., Germany and Iran, for providing the catalyst used in this study.