Single-step synthesis of dimethyl ether from synthesis gas using bifunctional catalyst

Date

2026-4-21

Author

Muşdu, Emel

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In recent years, growing concerns about fossil fuel emissions and rising global energy demand have led to an increase in research activity into sustainable and clean fuel sources. Dimethyl ether (DME) is regarded as a potentially valuable substitute for diesel or as an additive to LPG due to its high cetane number, clean combustion characteristics, and low-carbon nature. DME is produced from syngas in a single reactor through consecutive methanol formation and dehydration reactions over a bifunctional catalyst in the direct method. Although thermodynamic limitations of methanol synthesis have been largely overcome, enabling higher DME yields and the development of effective bifunctional catalysts remains a significant challenge. In this study, mesoporous silica aerogel was synthesized as a catalyst support using the sol-gel method. Metals, including Cu, Zn, and silicotungstic acid (STA), were loaded onto the synthesized silica aerogel in varying amounts using an impregnation method. Various characterization methods were used to analyze the synthesized materials. Based on thermodynamic analysis, the operating conditions were determined to be 275 °C and 50 bar, with a CO/H₂ molar ratio of 1:1. The effect of STA and Cu were investigated in DME production system. It was observed that as the Cu amount increased from 30% to 50%, the CO conversion was increased approximately 4.3 times. The highest CO conversion was found to be 77% with 47.6% DME selectivity using a mixture of commercial methanol synthesis catalyst (MSC) and commercial alumina catalyst (CA). On the other hand, the highest DME selectivity of 61.6% with 67.3% CO conversion was obtained in the presence of the MSC and SA-30STA catalyst mixture.

Subject Keywords

Dimethyl ether, Synthesis gas, Silica aerogel, STA, Bifunctional catalyst

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/119418

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis