Optimal Condition of DME Production Through Syngas Hydrogenation in Dual Membrane Reactor

Abstract

Typically, supporting the DME synthesis reactor by hydrogen and H2O permselective membrane modules and optimization of operating condition are practical solutions to shift the equilibrium conversion of reactions toward DME production and increasing CO2 conversion in the direct synthesis route. In this regard, the main object of this research is calculating the optimal condition of the dual membrane reactor to enhance DME productivity. In the first step, the considered dual membrane reactor is heterogeneously modeled based on the mass and energy governing equations. Since the reactions are intraparticle mass transfer control, the effectiveness factor is calculated and applied in the model. In the second step, a single objective optimization problem is formulated considering process limitations and constraints to calculate the optimal condition of the dual membrane process. Then, the performance of the dual membrane and conventional processes are compared at steady state condition. Based on the simulation results, DME production rate in the optimized dual membrane and conventional reactors are 0.0211 and 0.0262 mole s-1, respectively. Applying the optimal condition on the system increases DME production about 24.17% compared to the conventional process.

Keywords

• dimethyl ether
• reaction
• separation
• modeling
• optimization