title: Process simulation of single-step dimethyl ether production via biomass gasification.
abstract: In this study, we simulated the single-step process of dimethyl ether (DME) synthesis via biomass gasification using ASPEN Plus. The whole process comprised four parts: gasification, water gas shift reaction, gas purification, and single-step DME synthesis. We analyzed the influence of the oxygen/biomass and steam/biomass ratios on biomass gasification and synthesis performance. The syngas H(2)/CO ratio after water gas shift process was modulated to 1, and the syngas was then purified to remove H(2)S and CO(2), using the Rectisol process. Syngas still contained trace amounts of H(2)S and about 3% CO(2) after purification, which satisfied the synthesis demands. However, the high level of cold energy consumption was a problem during the purification process. The DME yield in this study was 0.37, assuming that the DME selectivity was 0.91 and that CO was totally converted. We performed environmental and economic analyses, and propose the development of a poly-generation process based on economic considerations.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Coal Combustion, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
authors.forename: Fudong
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ju
authors.forename: Hanping
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Xuejun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Haiping
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Xianhua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shihong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zhenghua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Dai
mesh_terms: D018533:Biomass; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D002248:Carbon Monoxide; D004736:Energy-Generating Resources / Q000191:economics; D004867:Equipment Design; D005740:Gases; D006859:Hydrogen; D008738:Methyl Ethers / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D008956:Models, Chemical; D013227:Steam; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D005740:Gases; D008738:Methyl Ethers; D013227:Steam; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D002248:Carbon Monoxide; D006859:Hydrogen; C033413:dimethyl ether