A Review of DME Manufacturing: Process and Catalyst Studies

Abstract

Consumption of fossil-based energy is increasing every year which has an impact on air, water and soil pollution. Therefore, alternative energy is needed to replace fossil fuels. Dimethyl Ether (DME) is considered suitable to replace LPG because of its better physical and chemical properties than LPG. This review article discusses the differences between direct and indirect DME synthesis methods and studies their reaction mechanisms. In addition, the types of promoter addition and their effects on the characteristics and performance of the catalyst are also studied in this article. The final part of this article discusses the effect of operating conditions (temperature, pressure, time on stream (TOS), room velocity, and H2/CO ratio) on catalyst performance, which is sourced from several literatures. It is hoped that this article can obtain an effective DME manufacturing method both in terms of process and catalytic.