Application of hydrogen-permselective Pd-based membrane in fixed bed reactor for dimethyl ether synthesis

A numerical study is a powerful tool to evaluate the performance of palladium (Pd) membrane reactor and for optimization of the operating conditions for dimethyl ether (DME) synthesis. Catalytic dehydration of synthetic methanol from synthesis gas to dimethyl ether is performed in a fixed bed heterogeneous reactor by using Pd-membrane. In this configuration, the reactants are added to the tube side while pure hydrogen is entered to the shell side. One dimensional heterogeneous plug flow model was employed to model an isothermal fixed bed reactor for the catalytic dehydration of methanol to dimethyl ether. By diffusing the hydrogen across the membrane from the shell side to the tube side, methanol production is increased. Increasing in the methanol production from synthesis gas leads to enhance dimethyl ether yield. The effects of different parameters on the dimethyl ether production were investigated in the membrane reactor. These parameters include reaction side flow rate, reaction side pressure, shell side pressure and H2/CO2 ratio in the feed.