Thermodynamic calculation and energy saving analysis of combined reaction system for production of dimethyl carbonate, methylal and dimethyl ether from methanol

To achieve the target of the efficient, green, safe and energy saving synthesis of dimethyl carbonate, a combined reaction system with energy saving is proposed for synthesis of dimethyl carbonate, methylal and dimethyl ether from methanol. Thermodynamics of single reaction and the complex system is analyzed by Aspen Plus software. The results show that there is thermodynamic equilibrium limit for the synthesis of dimethyl carbonate from methanol in gas phase, to improve significantly equilibrium concentration of dimethyl carbonate higher reaction pressure and lower reaction temperature is necessary, even so, large amount of unreacted methanol must be recycled which consume a lot of energy. When synthesis of dimethyl carbonate is combined with methylal and dimethyl ether synthesis, the equilibrium conversion of methanol can be improved observably from 0.5%-5.9% to 91.7%-96.3%. Based on the thermodynamic calculations and kinetics of these reactions, a series process of three catalytic reactors are proposed for synthesis of dimethyl carbonate, methylal and dimethyl ether in order, and the system including reaction and separation processes is simulated. The results show that the mixture of methylal and dimethyl carbonate can be separated by simple distillation and the separation of dimethyl carbonate-H2O azeotrpoe need to employ pressure swing distillation. Mass concentration of three products can be reached above 99%. The process proposed could effectively solve the problems as follows: recycle of large amount un-reacted materials, high energy consumption, easy explosion and so on, which exist in the process for detached production of dimethyl carbonate and methylal. ©, 2015, Chemical Industry Press. All right reserved.