Journal of Engineering and Technological Sciences
Vol 48, No 3 (2016)

Modified Two-Step Dimethyl Ether (DME) Synthesis Simulation from Indonesian Brown Coal

Sasongko, Dwiwahju ( Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Industrial Technology, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jalan Ganesa 10, Bandung 40132,)
Luthan, Abdurrahman Fadhlil Halim ( Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Industrial Technology, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jalan Ganesa 10, Bandung 40132,)
Wulandari, Winny ( Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Industrial Technology, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jalan Ganesa 10, Bandung 40132,)



Article Info

Publish Date
30 Aug 2016

Abstract

A theoretical study was conducted to investigate the performance of dimethyl ether (DME) synthesis from coal. This paper presents a model for two-step DME synthesis from brown coal represented by the following processes: drying, gasification, water-gas reaction, acid gas removal, and DME synthesis reactions. The results of the simulation suggest that a feedstock ratio of coal : oxygen : steam of 1 : 0.13 : 0.821 produces the highest DME concentration. The water-gas reactor simulation at a temperature of 400°C and a pressure of 20 bar gave the ratio of H2/CO closest to 2, the optimal value for two-step DME synthesis. As for the DME synthesis reactor simulation, high pressure and low temperature promote a high DME concentration. It is predicted that a temperature of 300°C and a pressure of 140 bar are the optimum conditions for the DME synthesis reaction. This study also showed that the DME concentration produced by the two-step route is higher than that produced by one-step DME synthesis, implying that further improvement and research are needed to apply two-step DME synthesis to production of this liquid fuel.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

JETS

Publisher

Subject

Engineering

Description

Journal of Engineering and Technological Sciences welcomes full research articles in the area of Engineering Sciences from the following subject areas: Aerospace Engineering, Biotechnology, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Engineering Physics, Environmental ...