Kinetic Parameters and Dynamic Modeling of a Reactor for Direct Conversion of Synthesis Gas to Dimethyl Ether

In the present study, the reaction kinetics and dynamic modeling of a reactor for syngas transformation into dimethyl ether using a mixture of a metallic oxides (CuO, ZnO, and Al2O3) and an acidic component (γ-Al2O3) as the catalyst has been investigated. A combination of the Graaf kinetic model for methanol synthesis and the Bercic model for methanol dehydration was correlated with the experimental results obtained in this study. The activity and kinetic measurements were performed using a catalytic fixed-bed microreactor. The operating temperature range was 230∼300 C and the pressure was 8 barguage (barg). The experimental runs were performed using a wide range of catalyst-to-feed ratios. A simple dynamic model for the reactor performance was developed and tested with the experimental data. The mean absolute deviation, concerning the data for the steady state conditions, was less than 8 %.