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Efficient Synthesis of Dimethyl Ether from Methanol in a Bifunctional Zeolite Membrane Reactor
Author(s) -
Zhou Chen,
Wang Nanyi,
Qian Yanan,
Liu Xiaoxing,
Caro Jürgen,
Huang Aisheng
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201604753
Subject(s) - dimethyl ether , methanol , zeolite , catalysis , membrane , bifunctional , selectivity , ether , chemistry , membrane reactor , chemical engineering , nuclear chemistry , materials science , organic chemistry , biochemistry , engineering
A sandwich FAU–LTA zeolite dual‐layer membrane has been developed and used as a catalytic membrane reactor for the synthesis of dimethyl ether (DME). In the top H‐FAU layer with mild acidity, methanol is dehydrated to DME. The other reaction product, water, is removed in situ through a hydrophilic Na‐LTA layer, which is located between the porous alumina support and the H‐FAU top layer. The combination of mild acidity with the continuous removal of water results in high methanol conversion (90.9 % at 310 °C) and essentially 100 % DME selectivity. Furthermore, owing to the selective and continuous removal of water through the Na‐LTA membrane, catalyst deactivation can be effectively suppressed.