DEHYDRATION OF METHANOL TO DIMETYL ETHER (DME): PERFORMANCE OF THREE TYPES OF CATALYST AT ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE

• Main Author: Saputra, Kevin
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Subjects: Teknik (Rekayasa, enjinering dan kegiatan berkaitan)
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/48195
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

To reduce LPG import, the government through 2017 General Plan of Energy National planned to do partial substitution of LPG to DME. Besides as LPG substituent, DME also has potential as alternative fuel for diesel engine. DME can be produced from various resources such as natural gas, coal, and biomass. In general, DME can be produced by two kind of processes, direct process (one step) from synthesis gas and indirect process (two steps) through methanol synthesis and methanol dehydration. Indirect process generally has higher DME yield than direct process. This research aims to test the activity of three types catalysts of methanol dehydration to DME. Catalysts tested in this research are ????-Al2O3, 2%P/ ????-Al2O3, and 3%Cu/ ????-Al2O3. The steps of this research included catalyst activity testing at temperature range of 260oC-300oC and GHSV variations of 2000 h-1-4000 h-1 to obtain the best operating condition for methanol dehydration to DME reaction. Catalyst activity testing carried out in tubular fixed-bed reactor at atmospheric pressure for 24 hours. The amount of catalyst used for each run be fixed at 2 grams. Feed used is pro-analysis methanol in ultrahigh purity N2. Based on experiments, it is found that ????-Al2O3 catalyst is the best catalyst because it has highest methanol conversion and DME yield compared with two other catalysts, which is 81.16% for methanol conversion and 22.81% for DME yield. Furthermore, the best value for GHSV is 2586 h-1 because it has highest methanol conversion and DME yield compared with other GHSV variations, which is 82.55% for methanol conversion and 23.92% for DME yield.