Process simulation of dimethyl ether synthesis via methanol vapor phase dehydration

The production processes included catalytic dehydration of methanol in an adiabatic fixed-bed reactor and two columns product separations. In this study, the technological process for dimethyl ether (DME) synthesis is built on PRO/II platform based on the combined parameters of the reaction dynamic model for methanol dehydration reaction, the improved NRTL model of the liquid phase, the PR model of vapor phase. In order to validate the proposed model, the simulation results have been compared with the available data from a set of industrial production equipment with a production capacity of 200 000 tonnes per annum. A comparison between the calculated and measured results has proved that these results are satisfactory. The bed height and the volume of the catalytic bed are calculated aim at one million t/a DME yields and while taking account of high-purity DME production. After discussing the influence of feed stage location and reflux ratio for DME product purity, the suitable unit operation conditions are chosen. Accordingly, accurate process simulation results provide the basis and guidance for an improvement and development of the similar industrial device.