Simultaneous production of dimethyl ether (DME), methyl formate (MF) and hydrogen from methanol in an integrated thermally coupled membrane reactor

• Modeling of an industrial reactor for methanol dehydration to DME.
• Modeling of a thermally coupled reactor for simultaneous production of DME and MF.
• Improving MF and H2 production utilizing a thermally coupled membrane reactor.
• Investigating the effects of operating parameters on the reactors performance.

The present study aims to presents two new configurations to improve dimethyl ether (DME) production rate besides producing methyl formate (MF) and hydrogen. In this regard, a thermally coupled reactor (TCR) and an integrated thermally coupled membrane reactor (TCMR) with feature of simultaneous production of DME, MF and hydrogen from methanol is proposed. A palladium–silver membrane with high hydrogen permeation rate is utilized to boost hydrogen recovery and MF production rate in TCMR. A one-dimensional plug flow model is considered to evaluate molar and thermal performance of the proposed configurations. Effect of various operating conditions such as inlet flow rates and permeation side configurations on the temperature profiles, methanol conversion, and DME and hydrogen production rate is studied numerically. Utilizing TCR and TCMR configurations promotes methanol conversion to DME to %85 and %87, respectively. Besides, a %22 increase in methanol conversion in the endothermic side was observed applying the hydrogen perm-selective membrane. Generally, higher methanol conversion in both endothermic and exothermic sides and hydrogen production rate in the permeation side was observed using a sweep gas with higher flow rates and lower temperature.

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