The Evaluation of Influence of Effective Operating Parameters and Determination of Optimal Condition in the Methanol Dehydration to DME Using γ-Alumina

In the present study, the process of methanol dehydration to dimethyl ether using acidic γ-Alumina was evaluated and operating control parameters were determined. The experiments were carried out in an adiabatic fixed bed reactor at temperature range of 250 to 380 ºC and space velocity of 15~ 45 gr.hr-1/grcat under pressure of 1~3 atm by the Taguchi L9 orthogonal array. The effects of each parameters and interactions were investigated by analysis of variance. The temperature and space velocity were found to be the most effective control parameter respectively. Based on the results, the maximum yield and conversion was obtained at the temperatures of 310~330 ºC and weight hourly space velocities less than 30 hr-1. The interaction analysis revealed that despite the pressure has no significant effect on the reaction progress, it interacts strongly with space velocity and temperature. Also, the formation condition of methane as the main by-product was investigated.