Production of dimethyl ether through methanol dehydration

Brief introduction

Dimethyl ether can be used to produce olefins, aerosols, refrigerants and domestic fuels, from methanol.

The “Dimethyl ether production from methanol” project was a part of the Key National Technologies R&D Program under the 8^th Five-Year Plan and, in the mid-1990s we took the lead in building China’s first industrial unit for dimethyl ether from methanol, at the Guangdong Zhongshan Fine Chemicals Co, Ltd. We now have transferred more than 70 dimethyl ether units in China with a market share of more than 75 percent.

We have three national patents on this technology, one of which got an award for excellence in 2009 for its dimethyl ether production from methanol method.

Technical features and capacity

1.This independently developed and produced special-purpose catalyst is highly active, highly selective and has a long service life.

2.An indirect, one-step process can be used during production with a methanol unit. If crude methanol is the raw material, production costs can be cut significantly.

3.A quench-type, multiple fixed-bed reactor is used, with a large catalyst capacity, moderate reaction temperature, and few side reactions, and it can easily result in large-scale production.

4.The unique stripper structure and separation process simplify the flow and lower investment costs and they cut energy consumption. Steam consumption per ton of product is 0.6~1.5t lower than that of similar domestic and foreign technology.

5.Dimethyl ether products at the fuel- and aerosol-level can be produced at the same time.

6.Three types of waste are dealt with and the unit discharges no pollutants.

7.The operation is quite simple and highly automated.

Built capacity: 2,500~200,000t/a.

Technical indicators