Dimethyl ether/CO₂ – a hitherto underestimated H₂ storage cycle

Abstract

Large amounts of renewable energy will have to be stored and transported in the future. For this task, chemical hydrogen storage technologies are particularly suitable. In this paper, we show...

Optimized design and techno-economic analysis of novel DME production processes

“…OPEX is divided into direct OPEX (OPEX dir ) and indirect OPEX (OPEX ind ). OPEX dir consists of the cost for steam, cooling water and electricity according to eqn (5). Furthermore, the catalyst cost is considered as OPEX dir due to the regular replacement catalysts.…”

“…This could allow the establishment of a closed DME/ CO 2 cycle for sustainable global H 2 transport at a large scale. 5 With existing global production capacities of about 10 Mtpa, DME is an important methanol derivative. The major current use of DME is in blending with LPG.…”

CO2 to dimethyl ether (DME): structural and functional insights of hybrid catalysts

“…37–42 Another potential ongoing application of DME is its use as a hydrogen carrier where hydrogen is stored and transported through two integrated chemical transformations: CO 2 hydrogenation to DME and DME (storage and transportation) steam reforming to H 2 (H 2 production). 43 Therefore, to think about carbon neutrality by 2050, DME is getting prioritized as a clean energy backbone over methanol. 42…”

A highly durable catalyst system for hydrogen production from dimethyl ether

“…9,10 Recently, some of us have published a techno-economic study 11 highlighting the potential of the DME/CO 2 storage cycle, which comprises DME synthesis in energy rich regions, overseas transport of DME, hydrogen release at the point of demand and recycling/back shipping of CO 2 for the next storage cycle. 11 The key advantages of this cycle are as follows: (1) DME and CO 2 have similar physical properties, both favourable for ship transport in classical LPG tank vessels with low hazard potential; (2) only half of the releasable hydrogen has to be transported, while the other half is supplied by water added at the location of hydrogen need; (3) the back-transportation of the released by-product CO 2 in the same ship used for the transport of DME can replace most of the costly direct air capture operation at the place of hydrogen export. 12,13 Furthermore, the technical hydrogen capacity (ratio of hydrogen mass released to carrier weight) of DME is 26.1 g H 2 g DME −1 and thus clearly exceeds that of methanol (18.8 g H 2 g MeOH −1 ) and ammonia (17.8 g H 2 g NH 3 −1 ).…”