(341w) Coproduction of Dimethyl Ether (DME) and Hydrogen/Power from Natural Gas with Zero Carbon Dioxide Emissions: An Attainable Region Approach

The co-production of Dimethyl Ether (DME) and hydrogen/power from natural gas with zero carbon dioxide emissions is explored. The Attainable Region of the DME production process, formulated as an optimization problem, is quantified in atomic ratio space, and the energetic self-sufficiency constraints imposed on the system is identified and expressed in terms of the molar flow ratio of oxygen feed to DME produced. These allow for the complete specification of the co-production process in terms of two variables: a feed atomic ratio and the molar flow ratio of oxygen feed to DME produced. Two case studies are explored: the co-production of DME and hydrogen (Case 1) and the co-production of DME and power (Case 2), both with net zero carbon dioxide emissions. This is achieved by the selection of a suitable reaction cluster consisting of only commercially available reactions. Heat and power integration, and a rudimentary operating cost analysis of the converged flowsheet reveals suitable operating points and potential profitability of the process respectively.