Determination of the Kinetic Parameters and Dynamic Modeling of the Reactor for the Direct Conversion of Synthesis gas to Di-methyl ether

"> In the present study the reaction kinetic and dynamic modeling of the reactor for syngas transformation into dimethyl ether using a mixture of a metallic oxides (CuO, ZnO, Al2O3), and an acidic component (γ-Al2O3) as the catalyst has been investigated. A combination of the Graff kinetic model for methanol synthesis and the Bercic model for methanol dehydration was correlated with the experimental results obtained in this study. Activity and kinetic measurements were carried out using a catalytic fixed bed micro reactor. The operating temperature range was 230-300 °C and the pressure was 8 barg. The experimental runs were performed applying 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%.