Análise computacional do processo de produção de DME a partir da desidratação de metanol, quanto à perfomance de catalisadores

Abstract

Dimethyl ether (DME) can be considered a likely substitute for traditional fuels, thus receiving great industrial interest. In addition, its small toxicity, high octane count and good flammable properties make DME a strong candidate to substitute liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). The synthesis of DME can be obtained through raw materials such as methanol, biomass and synthesis gas. Of the raw materials mentioned, obtaining the DME is possible through two routes: indirect and direct. In indirect synthesis, the production is performed from a dehydration reaction of methanol in acidified solid catalysts, while in direct synthesis the DME is obtained directly from the synthesis gas, methanol production and dehydration occur in a single reactor and using bifunctional catalysts. In this work, the indirect synthesis of methanol was evaluated computationally in a tubular catalytic reactor, using two catalysts namely H-mordenite and γ-Al2O3. With the modeling for the reactor developed (reaction kinetics, mass conservation and energy), both catalysts were tested in order to evaluate the sensitivity of the output variables (conversion and temperature) against the variation of operating conditions. Comparatively, H-mordenite presented better performance, with conversion superior to γ-Al2O3 for the same process conditions.