Internally Cooled DME Reactor for Methanol-to-DME

The DUN XIAN Single-tube Baffle-type DME Reactor is an internally cooled reactor for methanol-to-DME applications. It consists of a shell and an internal heat exchange tube bundle. The shell includes a cylindrical body, an upper head, and a lower head. The upper and lower heads each have gas inlet and outlet nozzles. Catalyst is loaded in the space between the external shell and the internal heat exchange tube bundle. A catalyst unloading nozzle at the bottom allows easy removal.

Methanol gas enters from the top and flows downward inside the heat exchange tubes. After reaching the lower section, it reverses direction and flows back up to the upper section. There, it mixes with cooler bypass gas that did not go through the pre-reactor heat exchanger. This mixed stream enters the catalyst bed, where methanol dehydration takes place. After the reaction, hot DME gas exits from the bottom and flows to the pre-reactor heat exchanger to preheat incoming feed gas.

The reactor provides a single-pass methanol conversion rate of at least 86 percent. It runs at an appropriate temperature with fewer side reactions. The methanol-to-DME one-step process includes methanol vaporization, methanol dehydration, DME distillation, and DME storage. Raw methanol is at least 95 weight percent. The process uses four-stage heat recovery of DME gas and three-stage heat recovery of steam, with steam consumption of approximately 0.8 tons per ton of DME. Reactor stress is completely relieved for safe and stable long-term operation. DME purity is at least 99.9 weight percent, methanol content is no more than 0.05 weight percent, water content is no more than 50 parts per million, and light hydrocarbons (C2-C4) are less than 0.01 weight percent.

DUN XIAN is a brand of Nanjing Dunxian Chemical Technology Co., Ltd., a high-tech private enterprise founded in 2009. The company holds nearly 30 patented technologies and operates Anhui Juyuan Machinery Equipment Co., Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary with pressure vessel design and manufacturing qualifications..