Issue 8, 2018

Designing a novel dual bed reactor to realize efficient ethanol synthesis from dimethyl ether and syngas

Abstract

A novel dual bed reactor packed with a combination of a zeolite (H-modernite or H-ferrierite) catalyst and a CuZnAl catalyst was proposed to realize direct ethanol (EtOH) synthesis from dimethyl ether (DME) and syngas (CO + H2). DME and CO were firstly introduced into the upper zeolite bed to commence the carbonylation reaction, and then H2 was directly introduced into the CuZnAl catalyst bed below to accomplish the hydrogenation of methyl acetate (MA) produced at the first catalyst bed. In this novel dual bed process, DME and CO were introduced into the reactor at the top of the first catalyst bed layer, but H2 was introduced into the second catalyst bed layer directly through an inner stainless steel tube equipped with evenly distributed holes. Benefitting from the precise control of the distribution of the reactants on the surface of different catalysts, an enhanced catalytic performance was obtained compared with the conventional dual bed reactor which introduced DME and syngas into the reactor simultaneously. The synergistic effects offered by this novel dual bed reactor were further confirmed by numerous comparative tests. Our results show that the excellent catalytic performance in this novel dual bed reactor was ascribed to the improved CO partial pressure in the upper zeolite catalyst bed. Compared with the conventional dual bed reactor, both DME conversion and EtOH yield were almost doubled in this novel dual bed reactor packed with the combination of the H-ferrierite and CuZnAl catalysts.

Graphical abstract: Designing a novel dual bed reactor to realize efficient ethanol synthesis from dimethyl ether and syngas

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
02 Jan 2018
Accepted
07 Mar 2018
First published
08 Mar 2018

Catal. Sci. Technol., 2018,8, 2087-2097

Author version available

Designing a novel dual bed reactor to realize efficient ethanol synthesis from dimethyl ether and syngas

X. Gao, B. Xu, G. Yang, X. Feng, Y. Yoneyama, U. Taka and N. Tsubaki, Catal. Sci. Technol., 2018, 8, 2087 DOI: 10.1039/C8CY00010G

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements