Methanol Dehydration for Dimethyl Ether. Production for Transportation Methanol Dehydration for Dimethyl Ether Production for Transportation Thomas Higgins, Adam McCoy, Brandon Musitano Department of Chemical Engineering, University of New Hampshire Introduction Process Flow Diagram and Material Balance 250,000 gal/day DME production rate MeOH DME + Water No side reactions or byproducts Quality: 99.92 wt% DME Low T acid catalyst (Amberlyst 35) Market Analysis Jie, L., et.al., “Regulated and non-regulated Emissions from a DME Powered Compression Ignition Engine” Safety Considerations Economic Analysis Conclusions and Recommendations DME Sell Price: $0.93/kg or $2.33/gal Recommend motivating transportation users to switch from low sulfur diesel to DME fuel There are enough engineered protections to build a safe plant Recommended to move on for further design analysis Minimize Unit size & storage inventory Substitute Water as coolant Mechanical seals & welded pipes Moderate T & P drops Simplify Use of same equipment 20 year operation Total capital investment of $10M DCFRR: 198% . Acknowledgements We would like to thank Dr. McLarnon as well as the entire Chemical Engineering department for guidance and assistance