Prospect of Direct Dimethyl Ether Production from CO2: Reactor Design Development

Authors

  • Nurul Aina Syahirah Khairul Nizam Department of Oil and Gas Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
  • Nurina Adriana Abdul Razak Department of Oil and Gas Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
  • Nur Hidayati Othman Department of Oil and Gas Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
  • Muhammad Shafiq Mat Shayuti Department of Oil and Gas Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
  • Fauziah Marpani Department of Oil and Gas Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
  • Nur Hashimah Alias Department of Oil and Gas Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
  • Munawar Zaman Shahruddin Department of Oil and Gas Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
  • Wei Kian Soh Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS), R&D Department, Group Research & Technology (GR&T), Project Delivery & Technology (PD&T), PETRONAS Research Sdn Bhd, Block E, Lot 3288 & 3289, Off Jalan Ayer Itam, Kawasan Institusi Bangi, Kajang 43000, Malaysia
  • Farahdila Kadirkhan Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS), R&D Department, Group Research & Technology (GR&T), Project Delivery & Technology (PD&T), PETRONAS Research Sdn Bhd, Block E, Lot 3288 & 3289, Off Jalan Ayer Itam, Kawasan Institusi Bangi, Kajang 43000, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11113/mjfas.v19n2.2841

Keywords:

Dimethyl ether, syngas, reactor design, fixed bed reactor, fluidized bed reactor, membrane reactor, process intensification

Abstract

The increasing emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and volatile hydrocarbons via burning of fossil fuels result in a significant amount of global warming and air pollution. With the concern over the impact of fossil fuel to the environment, the interest in alternative fuel production from the CO2 generated through utilization of new technologies has risen rapidly. Several clean alternative fuels, including dimethyl ether (DME) have been investigated for a more sustainable and greener environment. DME has a high cetane number but produces much lower NOx emission upon combustion. DME is typically synthesized using syngas based on conventional indirect DME route, where the process begins with conversion of syngas into methanol and subsequently dehydrated to DME in separate units. Recently, a direct single-step route to produce DME through dehydrogenation of CO2 and dehydration of methanol by utilising a novel bifunctional catalyst has been investigated. In direct DME, the dehydrogenation and dehydration occur simultaneously in a single reactor, which eliminate the need for a methanol production plant. However, the use of conventional fixed-bed reactor (FBR) for the direct DME synthesis causes many challenges including catalyst deactivation, where water appears in the reaction area, limiting the conversion of CO2 reactants into DME and consequently, the DME yield. It is also essential to manage the exothermic heat generated from the catalyst for better DME yield. In order to overcome these hurdles, several types of reactors have been proposed such as fluidized bed reactor, slurry reactor, microreactor and catalytic membrane reactor. In this paper, different types of reactors are first discussed and its applications related to the direct DME production from CO2 are highlighted. Finally, the challenges and difficulties of reactor development are addressed and future direction is outlined.

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Published

18-04-2023

Issue

Vol. 19 No. 2 (2023): March-April

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Article

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Copyright (c) 2023 Nurul Aina Syahirah Khairul Nizam, Nurina Adriana Abdul Razak, Nur Hidayati Othman, Muhammad Shafiq Mat Shayuti, Fauziah Marpani, Nur Hashimah Alias, Munawar Zaman Shahruddin, Wei Kian Soh, Farahdila Kadirkhan

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