Experimental study of improved two step synthesis for DME production

Dimethyl ether (DME) has received growing attention due to its potential use as a multi-purpose fuel. A new technical route of improved two step synthesis is proposed for DME production, which is composed of methanol synthesis and methanol dehydration in a fixed-bed reactor. The influences of the operating conditions including reaction pressure, temperature, H2/CO mole ratio in the syngas and space velocity on CO conversion, selectivity and yield of DME are investigated. CO conversion and DME yield both increase monotonically with the pressure increase. The optimal reaction temperatures for the synthesis and dehydration of methanol are different. CO conversion increases at first and keeps constant when the H2/CO mole ratio is above 2. DME yield increases obviously and then decreases gradually with the space velocity increase. The optimal conditions are obtained to maximize the CO conversion and DME selectivity. The reaction temperatures of the top and bottom stage are in the range of 270–280 °C and 235–245 °C, respectively. The optimal ratio of H2/CO is above 2, and the space velocity is in the range of 1000–1300 h− 1.