Suitable commercial catalysts for the synthesis of oxymethylene dimethyl ethers

Abstract

OME have diesel fuel like properties with almost soot-free combustion, which can enable a reduction of nitrogen oxides. This makes them promising candidates for internal combustion engines as blends or...

From a Batch to a Continuous Supported Ionic Liquid Phase (SILP) Process: Anhydrous Synthesis of Oxymethylene Dimethyl Ethers

“…Methoxy groups can be provided by methanol (MeOH), [18] dimethyl ether (DME), [19] or dimethoxymethane (OME 1 ). [11] Chain elongation is mostly performed by formaldehyde (FA)-sources such as 1,3,5trioxane (TRI), [20,21] the long chain oligomer para-FA, [16,22,23] aqueous FA-solution, [24] or as we could demonstrate with molecular gaseous FA. [25,26] Aqueous synthesis routes e. g. starting from methanolic formaldehyde solutions have the advantage of comparably cheap and readily available starting materials, which are produced in large-scale processes.…”

“…[15] Furthermore, aviation, shipping, and off-road machines are examples of transportation sections which require prospective liquid energy carriers. [16] However, in order to play an important role, the production capacity for OME n must be increased especially in Europe, with the first European industrial process plant with a production capacity of 1 t h À 1 being planned for 2025. [17] The synthetic approach towards OME n is possible via several routes which have in common that two structural units are necessary: i) methoxy groups for chain termination and ii) oxymethylene (CH 2 O)-units for chain elongation, Figure 1A).…”

A novel process towards the industrial realization of large-scale oxymethylene dimethyl ether production – COMET

“…Besides HF n , MG n , TRI and DME, the formation of tetroxane ((CH 2 O) 4 ), methyl formate (HCOOCH 3 , MEFO) and formic acid (HCOOH, FOAC) was observed, which strongly depends on the catalyst systems and increases with increasing temperatures. [32][33][34]…”

“…Synthesis product neutralization. Before the separation of the OME synthesis products P3-5 in the continuous distillation setup, the thermal stability was tested with a similar procedure to the investigations from Mantei et al 33 The pre-tests were conducted in a micro distillation setup using about 50 mL of P3-5 with a stepwise increase of the reboiler temperature. The distillation led to a solidification of the bottom products for all three samples.…”

Investigation of the cooperative-effects of Lewis- and Brønstedt acids in homogeneously catalyzed OME fuel synthesis by inline-NMR monitoring

“…17 Therefore and due to the advantages of heterogeneous catalysis in other industrial applications, a variety of solid acids has been applied for the OME fuel synthesis. 17,22,24 Mostly these acids are based either on zeolites 13,[25][26][27] or polymeric ion exchange resins. [28][29][30] Nevertheless, the catalytic activity of a solid material is not just determined by the number of acidic sites, but also by the accessibility of these sites.…”