di-methyl-ether (DME) in China.
>> What can you say about di-methyl-ether. Ken Deffeyes mentions it in Beyond Oil. It sounds attractive as a fuel. I don't know about its manufacturer and large scale production feasibility. <<
You asked Elroy, but I'll butt in with an answer.
China's going for it big time.
Beijing, July 13, 2006
Faced with an energy crunch, China has decided to support the development of dimethyl ether, a gas derived from coal, as a possible alternative to diesel.
Standards for the use of dimethyl ether (DME) as a civil fuel are being drawn up, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the nation's top planning body, said.
Under normal pressure and temperature, DME could be compressed into a liquid and used as an alternative to diesel. Its low emissions made it relatively environmentally friendly...
...China's estimated annual DME output from planned refineries was 500,000 tonnes.
Message 22622535
--
China is to start construction of its largest dimethyl ether (DME) project with an annual output of three million tons to reduce rising oil consumption.
Coal-based DME is a clean-burning alternative to liquefied petroleum gas, liquid natural gas, diesel and gasoline.
Located in Ordos city of north China's energy-rich Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the project will cost 21 billion yuan (2.6 billion U.S. dollars), the Shanghai Securities News reports.
Compared with the current annual output of 120,000 tons of DME each year, the project will make a huge difference to China's alternative energy sector, said a statement from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
A pipeline will be built to transfer the DME from Ordos to the port city of Tangshan in north China's Hebei Province. This would then enable it to be shipped to provinces in east and south China which are crying out for energy sources.
siliconinvestor.com
--
China also wants to build the capacity for making dimethyl ether to five million tons, 12 million tons and 20 million tons by 2010, 2015 and 2020. DME, produced from methanol made by gasifying coal, is a clean-burning fuel alternative that can be blended with other fuels.
Message 23101546
--
China will invest over one trillion yuan (about US$127 billion) in developing an alternative coal-based energy source to ease the country's dependence on oil imports, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
The project aims to produce 30 million tons of liquefied coal and 20 million tons of dimethyl ether (DME) by 2020.
Message 23105045
--
Industrial giant Siemens signed an agreement with Shenhua Ningxia Coal Group (SNCG) yesterday to supply its advanced gasification equipment, a move that marks the German company's entry into China's coal gasification industry.
Under the agreement Siemens Power Generation (PG) group will sell key gasification equipment to SNCG for a coal-based dimethyl ether (DME) project, with a planned annual production of 830,000 tons.
Message 23196269
===
Conventional DME production uses the methanol dehydration method.[1] For mass production of DME as a fuel other methods are being considered, the main one being DME synthesis from hydrogen and CO gas, also known as syngas.[2]
DME can be produced from methanol by combining two methanol molecules to produce a DME molecule and a water molecule.[3] This is a reversible reaction.[3] This can be shown in the following equation:
methanol => dimethyl ether + water
2CH3OH => CH3OCH3 + H2O
As a fuel
DME can be used as a fuel in diesel engines,[5] petrol engines (30% DME / 70% LPG) and gas turbines. It works particularly well in diesel engines due to its high cetane number, which is greater than 55 compared to diesel which is 38-53.[6]. only moderate modification are needed to convert a diesel engine to run on DME. The simplicity of this short carbon chain compound leads during combustion to very low emissions of particulate matter, NOx, CO and no SOx, meeting even the most stringent emission regulations in Europe (EURO5), U.S. (U.S. 2010) and Japan (2009 Japan).[7]
Currently the EU is considering DME in its potential biofuel mix in 2030.[8]
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org |
