NATURAL GAS AND COAL BASED DIMETHYL ETHER (DME) PROCESS PRODUCTION SYNTHESIS IN INDONESIA

• Main Author: Arif Wisnuaji, Bagus
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/33389
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

The need to replace LPG as fuel for the needs of today's society is very urgent given the high imports made by the government, the high consumption of LPG in Indonesia, and the high subsidy for LPG. The discovery of Dimethyl Ether (DME) as a new fuel substitute for LPG, given the similarity of physical properties of DME and DME can be used as a substitute for diesel fuel, can be used as the main solution to reduce the current LPG requirement. DME production process can be started from coal and natural gas as the main raw material. However, given Indonesia's current state of affairs with the Paris Agreement, which requires Indonesia to utilize Indonesia's coal resources, most of Indonesia's coal quality is of low quality. In addition, if we look at the position of natural gas, in fact the allocation of natural gas usage in Indonesia is very less so it takes a way how to make the process of DME production by looking at the state of Indonesia's natural resources both from coal and natural gas. In this research, we want to see how the production process of Dimethyl Ether from coal based on feasibility analysis of technology and economic feasibility analysis. Based on the result, it shows that technically natural gas simulation is better than coal simulation by lower feedstock needed to produce nearly same capacity. In economy analysis, natural gas simulation is better also than coal simulation according to parameters of economy. In the other hand, coal simulation is better than natural gas simulation based on sensitivity analysis. It shows the stability of coal simulation if the variables got fluctuated.