Department of Petroleum Engineering and Applied Geophysics

TPG4140 Natural gas

Dimethyl ether production from

carbon dioxide and hydrogen

Pierre-Etienne HUOT-MARCHAND

Trondheim
November 2010

Abstract

The chemical recycling of carbon dioxide to methanol and dimethyl ether (DME) provides a
renewable, carbon-neutral, a source for efficient transportation fuels. DME can be used in
diesel engine, although some modifications of the engine are required. The Icelandic
government has established a long term vision for zero percent hydrocarbon fuel emissions,
and has been working to increase the use of renewable energy. So, Mitsubishi Heavy
Industries (MHI) is planning to open a DME plant in 2014, in Iceland. A two step process is
adopted to produce DME, via methanol, produced from carbon dioxide and hydrogen. To end
that, the flue gas from the ELKEM ferrosilicon plant is fed to the MHIs CO2 recovery
process, using KS-1 solvent, after sulfur removal in a wet scrubber. Hydrogen is generated by
electrolysis of water. Then, the methanol synthesis is developed by Mitsubishi Gas Chemical
(MGC) and a MHI/MGC superconverter is used. But it is possible to improve methanol
production using natural gas and coal. Hydrogen could be also used more efficiently by
reducing water formation. The DME is then produced using a -Al2O3 catalyst. The good
point is that all environmental regulations are respected and the plant does not discharge any
harmful material to the environment. Besides, the combined emissions from both plants will
be much less than the ELKEM plant emissions. The design capacity is set at 500 Metric Tons
Per Day and supplies half of the Iceland demand.

ii

List of Contents

Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1
1.

About DME : ...................................................................................................................... 2

2.

Presentation of the project in Iceland ................................................................................. 3

2.1

Icelandic government cooperation............................................................................... 3

2.2

Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) .................................................................... 4

2.3

Feasibility study ........................................................................................................... 5

2.4

Location ....................................................................................................................... 6

Production process ............................................................................................................. 7

3.1

Sulfur removal ............................................................................................................. 7

3.2

CO2 capture.................................................................................................................. 8

3.3

H2 generated by electrolysis ....................................................................................... 9

3.4

Methanol production.................................................................................................. 11

3.5

DME production ........................................................................................................ 13

3.6

Utility and offsite system .......................................................................................... 14

Environmental impact analysis ........................................................................................ 15

Potential applications and demand of DME in Iceland .................................................... 16

5.1

Potential applications ................................................................................................. 16

5.2

Potential demand ....................................................................................................... 16

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 18
References ................................................................................................................................ 19
Appendices ............................................................................................................................... 20

iii

List of Tables

Table 1 - Diesel oil sold in Iceland in 2008 and equivalent quantity of DME (The Ministry of
Industry et al. 2010) ................................................................................................................. 17

List of Figures

Figure 1 - Carbon dioxide recycling in the methanol economy (George et al. 2009) ............... 2
Figure 2 DME molecule ........................................................................................................... 2
Figure 3 - DME production plant configuration ....................................................................... 7
Figure 4 Absorption process for CO2 capture (Bolland 2010) ............................................... 9
Figure 5 PEM Water Electrolysis (Svensson and Mller-Holst 2010) ................................. 11
Figure 6 - DME production flowsheet (West Virginia University 1999) ................................. 14

List of Appendices
Appendix 1 - Energy supply and demand situation in Iceland (IEA 2005) .............................. 20
Appendix 2 Principle methods for CO2 capture from power plants (Bolland 2010) ............ 20
Appendix 3 Classification of post-combustion methods for CO2 capture (Bolland 2010).... 21
Appendix 4 Choice of most relevant hydrogen sources (Daimler 2010) .............................. 21
Appendix 5 Simplified process flow sheet for electrolysis (Stoll and Linde 2000) ............... 22
Appendix 6 Hydrogen production costs (NextHyLight 2010) ............................................... 22

iv

Introduction
Carbon dioxide is a significant greenhouse gas and is considered as a harmful pollutant and a
major source for global warming. In order to recycle carbon dioxide, many solutions have
been suggested, especially its chemical conversion. One of them is the synthesis of methanol
from CO2 and H2. That is why, it has been demonstrated on a pilot scale in Japan. There is
also significant interest in CO2 to methanol process in China, in Australia and in the European
Union.

The first commercial CO2 to methanol recycling plant should open in 2014, in Iceland. More,
this methanol could be used to produce dimethyl ether (DME), in order to replace fossil fuels
for transport and fishing. Thus, it will increase the use of renewable energy, and it is a good
long term vision. The carbon dioxide recycling in the methanol economy is shown in Figure
1. The main firm involved in the project is Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), because of its
dependence on Iceland. This will be a large scale test for the benefit of MHI and Iceland, so
MHI should provide and guarantee the technology for 20 years. The costs are evaluated to
278 million Euros (International DME Association 2010) and do not represent the topic of
this report, based on technologies.

Firstly, some information about dimethyl ether will be described. Then, this project in Iceland
will be presented. Thereafter, the production process will be explained in details, especially
about sulfur removal, carbon dioxide capture, hydrogen generation, methanol and DME
production. Finally, an environmental impact analysis will be established followed by a study
of the potential application and demand of DME in Iceland.

Figure 1 - Carbon dioxide recycling in the methanol economy (George et al. 2009)

1. About DME :
The DME structure-based formula is CH3OCH3 as shown in Figure 2. DME is used in organic
synthesis as a reaction solvent for systems requiring volatile polar solvents. It is a colorless
gas with typical smell. The normal boiling point of DME is -24.9oC. Hence, DME must be
stored in compressed tanks, and this complicates filling. The primary effects of DME are
anesthesia, headache, intoxication, and unconsciousness.

Figure 2 DME molecule

DME has been used as propellant in consumer products. DME can be used in a wide variety
of consumer applications, namely personal care, household products, automotive, paints and
finishes, food products, insect control, animal products, and other related applications.

DME is also promising as a clean-burning hydrocarbon fuel, owing to its high cetane number
(55-60, higher than the 40-55 of conventional diesel fuel), (Arcoumanis et al. 2008), in LPG
Blending and Substitute, Diesel Blending and Substitute, Power Generation and Acetylene
2

Substitute. Only moderate modifications are needed to convert a diesel engine to burn DME.
The simplicity of this short carbon chain compound leads during combustion to very low
emissions of particulate matter, NOx, CO. For these reasons as well as being sulfur-free,
DME meets even the most stringent emission regulations in Europe, U.S., and Japan.

There are two ways to produce DME. On the one hand, DME could be produced by a two
step process (conventional process) where the synthesis gas (carbon monoxide and hydrogen)
is converted into DME via methanol. This second reaction is called methanol dehydration.
However, it is also possible to produced methanol by synthesis from carbon dioxide and
hydrogen (see part III.4). On the other hand, a single step process (Haldor Topsoe or JFE
Holdings) could be used.

Nowadays, the research of catalysts for the direct synthesis of DME offers a lot of study
cases. Indeed, this process requires a dual catalyst system which is very complex: it acts as a
methanol synthesis catalyst and a methanol dehydration catalyst in a single unit (between
240C and 280C at pressures between 30 and 70 bar). These catalysts are composed of CuZnO-Al2O3/zeolite. Ferrierte, as zeolite, shows a highest activity and selectivity. The current
works are about the modification of this ferrierte with zirconium.

2. Presentation of the project in Iceland

2.1

Icelandic government cooperation

In this DME project, the Icelandic government and its subordinate organizations of the
Republic of Iceland are represented by:
-

The Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism (the Ministry),

The National Energy Authority (NEA), and

The Innovation Center Iceland (ICI)

One of the goals of the Icelandic government is to obtain a zero percent hydrocarbon fuel
emissions. That is why, the Icelandic government has been actively working to increase the
use of renewable energy, with the result that all of the states electricity is generated by
geothermal and hydropower systems today. Renewable energies represent 70% of energy

consumption in Iceland. The different consumptions of primary energies (15.5x1016 J/yr in

2005) are shown in Appendix - 1 (IEA 2005).

However, Iceland is still importing fossil fuels for transport and fishing. These imports
represent ten percent of the total value of imported goods to Iceland. So, the government is
investigating the possibility of introducing alternative fuels in this field, like DME. Indeed,
any country should use the fuel that is the cheapest, imported or not. Indeed, due to the
abundance of renewable electricity available, the government is interesting in research and
development of electricity based transport, such as hydrogen or fuel-cell vehicles and is
attracting an attention from the world as one of the leading countries of clean-energy uses.

This support of Icelandic Government involves reduction of applicable taxes on the project,
that are taxes on DME sales, corporate tax on the Project Company et ctera, or provision of
subsidies for DME project. More specific data are not available to the public.

2.2

Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU)

The Ministry and some companies agreed to collaborate on investigating potential

introduction of various technologies related to a long term vision of zero percent hydrocarbon
fuel emissions society in Iceland. That is why, on November 21st, 2008 all the parties agreed
to sign a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) to study the feasibility of a DME synthesis
plant project for a potential application as an alternative fuel for certain vehicles and fishing
vessels.
The companies represented in this MOU are (The Ministry of Industry et al. 2010):

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) is one of the worlds leading heavy

machinery manufacturers and plant engineering contractors. MHI has a diverse line-up
of products and services including shipbuilding, power systems, chemical and
environmental plants, industrial and general machineries, transportation systems,
aerospace equipments, et ctera. MHI has supplied a total of 15 turbines to Icelandic
geothermal power generation plants and supports the countrys energy policy as
mentioned above.

Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) is one of the worlds leading trading houses

engaged in trading, financing and investment activities in the global industry,

including machinery, petrochemicals, oil and gas, renewable energy, metals, food and
general merchandise. MC, together with MHI, has collaborated with Icelandic power
companies on geothermal power projects for more than 30 years.

HEKLA (Hekla) is a service company, specializing in sales and servicing of

automobiles and heavy machinery. The companys goal is to lead the field as regards
to customer service and the marketing of goods sold and serviced by the company.
HEKLA represents companies renowned all over the world for quality and reliability,
including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Motors from the year 1979.
HEKLAs heavy machinery division is located at Klettagardar in Reykjavik. HEKLA
has dealers and service agents in all major towns in Iceland.

NordicBlueEnergy is an Icelandic company specialized in sustainable and

environmentally friendly projects. Their aim is to merge technical knowledge with
stakeholders to develop financially viable ventures that lead to a better and cleaner
environment for all.

2.3

Feasibility study

The Parties will also evaluate the DME synthesis as a measure to reduce CO2 emission, since
the synthesis DME can be considered as carbon neutral fuel. Because the DME will be
produced from the feed material of both H2, which generated from renewable energy of hydro
and/or geothermal power, and CO2 captured from existing flue gas.
But before starting such project some preliminary studies are needed. Indeed, it is important
to have the following information (The Ministry of Industry et al. 2010):
- An evaluation of the potential feed gas source (amount, composition, impurities etc.) and the
selection of a suitable site for building a DME plant.
- A preliminary design of the carbon dioxide recovery plant and the DME production plant.
- A calculation of the cost of the construction and operation of the DME production plant
based on the preliminary design.
5

- The evaluation of the economic feasibility of the DME production compared to existing
energy sources.
- An initial evaluation comparing CO2 emission reduction due to DME production and use
with CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage).

2.4

Location

So, in this project, the synthesis of methanol from carbon dioxide is studied (for the first step
of DME synthesis). It is not really hard to find a plant which currently discharges significant
amounts of CO2 as flue gas to the atmosphere (25 billion tones of CO2 per year). In Iceland,
the plant site near ELKEM ferrosilicon plant in Grondartangi has been selected as the best
place for the DME production plant, because of the following areas (The Ministry of Industry
et al. 2010):

A landfill is planned in the selected area which is currently a coastal shore, according to a
zoning plan. The site is connected to the main road network by already existing roads.

A marine loading/unloading harbor close to the ELKEM plant can be utilised for a marine
loading system and for the construction equipments and materials unloading purposes as well.

An electric power is currently supplied to the area, where the ferrosilicon plant and aluminum
smelter factory are receiving massive amount of electricity. The required power for this
project can be supplied in same manner provided with extra supply capacity and transmission
lines.

The fresh water supply is available for above mentioned existing factories, thus the required
water can be received by the plant provided with extra capacity and supply pipe lines.
Cooling water for the plant shall be sea water taken from a deep fjord sea bed.

On the plant location, there is already an industrialised area so, environmental protection and
natural conservation program has already been implemented, thus only the extra impact by
this plant shall be evaluated. Environmental regulations will be described in later chapter.

3 Production process
The DME production plant consists of following 4 main process plants and common utility/
offsite system. There are principally a CO2 capture plant, a H2 generation plant, a methanol
plant and a DME plant. The configuration of the DME production plant is shown on the
Figure 3. The design capacity of the DME production is set at 500 MTPD (Metric Tons Per
Day).

Figure 3 - DME production plant configuration

3.1 Sulfur removal

Before feeding the flue gas into the Carbon Capture System, it needs to be pre-treated to
remove sulphur. These pollutants, besides their environmental effect, tend to poison the
catalyst systems. To that end, a Flue Gas Desulfurization system (FGD) is adopted, and five
methods are available: wet scrubbers, spray dry scrubbers, sorbent injection processes, dry
scrubbers and sea water scrubbing.

Wet scrubbers are the most widely used technology (80%) in the FGD market (Bolland 2010).
Then, spray dry scrubbers and sorbent injection systems are used too. Wet scrubbers can
achieve removal efficiencies up to 97-99%, but a treatment of waste water is required.

Wet scrubbers use calcium-, sodium- and ammonium-based sorbents in a slurry mixture with
water. Then, it is injected into the scrubber to react with the sulphur dioxide (SO2) in the flue
gas. The preferred sorbent in operating wet scrubbers is limestone followed by lime, because
of their availability and relative low cost. SO2 is an acid gas and to remove the SO2 from the
flue gases, alkaline is needed. The reaction taking place in wet scrubbing using limestone
(CaCO3) slurry produces calcium sulfite (CaSO3), which is oxidised to form gypsum (CaSO4,

2H2O). For the contacting between the sorbent and the flue gas, there are a variety of scrubber
designs: spray tower, plate tower, packed tower and fluidised packed tower.

Spray dry scrubbers are limited in size compared to wet scrubbers. Normally the largest plant
size for the spray dry scrubbers is around 200MW. Spray dry scrubbers achieve removal
efficiencies in excess of 90% and up to slightly above 95%.

Dry sorbent injection is a simple method but there are two main disadvantages: to achieve the
same SO2 removal, sorbent required is twice that of a wet scrubber system, and secondly the
large quantities of strongly alkaline waste produced, which is generally disposed of in a
landfill.

The sea water scrubbing system is a simple and inherently reliable one with low capital and
operational costs, which can remove up to 99% of SO2, with no disposal of waste to land.
However, heavy metals and chlorides, if not removed before the SO2 capture, are present in
the water released to the sea.

3.2

CO2 capture

The furnace at Grundartangi produces 45,000 tonnes of 75% ferrosilicon. The off-gases
contain mainly CO and H2 instead of CO2 and have a flowrate of 10,999 Sm3/h. But there are
tar components, sulphur and silica dust too. The sulphur content calculated as SO2 will be
about 800 tonne/year and about 7,000 tonne/year of silica dust. The LHV of the gas mixture
will be about 10.4 MJ/kg, About 84% of the heating value comes from CO, 11% from H2 and
5% from CH4. (Gudmundsson and Hlfdanarson 1999).
There are three different principles for capturing CO2 from power plants (as is shown in
Appendix 2):
-

Post-combustion CO2 capture

Pre- combustion CO2 capture

Oxy- combustion CO2 capture

In this project, it is a post-combustion CO2 capture. But there are a lot of methods available,
as shown in Appendix 3. The MHI Carbon Capture System technology should be adopted
using chemical absorption, following by an organic capture process with KS-1 solvent. The
8

KS-1 flue gas recovery system was developed by the cooperative efforts of Mitsubishi Heavy
Industries, Ltd and Kansai Electric Power Co., Ltd. The KS-1 is described by (Mimura,
Shimojo et al. 1995), (Mimura, Simayoshi et al. 1997), (Iijima 1999), (Mimura and
Matsumoto 2000), and (Shimura 2006).
The recovery technology is officially known as the KM-CDR Process (Kansai-Mitsubishi
proprietary CO2 Recovery Process. Commonly, MEA (Monoethanolamine) is used as solvent,
but KS-1 offers the advantages of lower energy requirement and lower solvent degradation
rates. This process is used, in Kedah (Malaysia), in Fukuoka (Japan) and in India.

A flow sheet of the process is shown below in Figure 4. The feed gas enters into the gas
cooler, in order to remove the sulfur (FGD) and sent into absorber. The temperature in the
absorber is between 40C and 55C at atmospheric pressure. So, the treated gas as head
product is sent to compressor in order to be transported to the methanol plant. Then, the rich
solvent is recycled using a desorption method. To end that, a stripper is used at temperature
around 100-110 C.

Figure 4 Absorption process for CO2 capture (Bolland 2010)

3.3 H2 generated by electrolysis

Electrolysis uses an electric current to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Any available
energy source (alternative energies such as solar, wind, geothermal, and atomic energy) can
be used for the electricity required (can result in zero greenhouse gas emissions). However,
9

many other ways could be used to produce H2, such as natural gas reforming, biomass
gasification, nuclear electrolysis, coal gasification and hydrogen as a byproduct. The main
advantages of the renewable electrolysis are the good energy and CO2 balances at the same
time, the renewable energies available in Iceland and the fact that hydrogen is a means of
storage for excess electricity. Advantages of other methods are available in the Appendix 4
(Daimler 2010).

Electrolyzers consist of an anode and a cathode separated by an electrolyte. There are three
kinds of electrolysers: polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyzers, alkaline
electrolyzers and solid oxide electrolyzers. An important criterion to choose is the temperature
of the water, because when it increases, less electricity is required to split water into hydrogen
and oxygen, which reduces the total energy required. (solid oxide electrolysers operate at
500C800C, PEM electrolyzers operate at 80C100C, and alkaline electrolyzers operate
at 100C-150C) (US Department of energy 2008).

In a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyzer, the electrolyte is a solid specialty

plastic material. Alkaline electrolysers and PEM electrolysers are quite the same, just the
solution changes. Water reacts at the anode to form oxygen and protons (A). The electrons
flow through an external circuit and the hydrogen ions selectively move across the PEM to the
cathode. Then, protons combine with electrons from the external circuit to form H2 (C).
These reactions are shown in Figure 5 (Svensson and Mller-Holst 2010). A more complete
industrial process is available in Appendix 5 (Stoll and Linde 2000).

10

Figure 5 PEM Water Electrolysis (Svensson and Mller-Holst 2010)

The new challenges about this technology are reducing the capital cost of the electrolyzer and
improving energy efficiency. In order to avoid the cost of the compressor, for transport and
storage, researchers are working on integrated compressors into the electrolyser. Hydrogen
production costs for some technologies are available in the Appendix 6 (NextHyLights, 2010).

3.4

Methanol production
3.4.1 Catalytic hydrogenative conversion of carbon dioxide to methanol

The main reaction (1) to produce methanol from CO2 is the catalytic regenerative conversion
of CO2 with hydrogen. It is planned to use this process in Iceland. In this methanol synthesis
unit, Mitsubishi Gas Chemical (MGC) developed a methanol synthesis catalyst and some
MHI/MGC SUPERCONVERTER (SPC) are used. The crude methanol is produced in the
SUPERCONVERTER.

Catalysts are based on metals and their oxides, in particular the combination of copper and
zinc oxide. (Lurgi AG, a leader in the methanol synthesis process, developed the best catalyst
for this reaction). Increasing temperatures rapidly decrease catalyst activity so that isotherms
need to be carefully controlled. The selectivity to methanol is excellent (around 99.8%) with
an operating temperature around 260 C (conversion of about 95%), (Saito 1998) and (US
DOE 2003).
11

CO2 + 3 H2 CH3OH + H2O H298K = -11.9 kcal/mol

(1)

3.4.2 Improved methanol production from natural gas and coal

3.4.2.1

Carnol process

To reduce CO2 emission in the atmosphere, it is possible to use fossil fuels. This process is
called the Carnol process where H2 is produced by thermal decomposition of CH4 with
carbon formed as a byproduct (2). This H2 reacts with CO2 recovered from emission of the
fossil fuel power plant to produce methanol (3). So, the net emission of CO2 is close to zero,
because CO2 released by the methanol used as a fuel is recycled from existing emission
sources. About the carbon formed, it could be stored (more easily than the CO2) and reused.

Methane thermal decomposition

CH4 C + 2 H2 H298K = 17.9 kcal/mol

CO2 + 3 H2 CH3OH + H2O

Methanol synthesis
Overall Carnol process

(2)
(3)

3 CH4 + 2 CO2 2 CH3OH + 2 H2O + 3 C

3.4.2.2

Methane decomposition & dry reforming

In this process, the environmental benefit is lower than the Carnol process, but it is better for
the economic cost. This process results in the combination of CH4 decomposition (4) and dry
reforming (5). The products are methanol and carbon (6). The dry reforming does not
involved steam, CO2 is reacted with natural gas to produce syngas (more endothermic than
steam reforming). With the dry reforming, natural gas resources are used more efficiently.
However, this syngas composition is not suitable for the production of methanol using
existing technology in which a H2/CO ratio close to 2 is needed.
CH4 C + 2 H2
CH4 + CO2 2 CO + 2 H2

(4)

H298K = 59 kcal/mol

2 CH4 + CO2 2 CO + 4 H2 + C 2 CH3OH + C

3.4.2.3

(5)
(6)

Steam reforming & dry reforming

This way overcomes the previous disadvantage because it is possible to get a H2/CO ratio
close to 2. It uses steam reforming with a H2/CO ratio of 3 (7). The combination of steam and
dry reforming (8) can be used for the conversion of CO2 emissions from fossil fuels burning
12

power plant. It is also advantageous for reforming natural gas and geothermal sources which
often are accompanied by substantial amounts of CO2.
2 CH4 + 2 H2O 2 CO + 6 H2

Steam reforming

CH4 + CO2 2 CO + 2 H2

Dry reforming
Bireforming

(7)

3 CH4 + 2 H2O + CO2 4 CO + 8 H2 4 CH3OH

(8)

3.4.3 Combining reduction and hydrogenation of CO2

The main reaction (1) produces water as a byproduct, but a third of the hydrogen and the
electricity are used to produce it. So, to use hydrogen more efficiently, initial chemical or
electrochemical reduction of CO2 to CO (9) to minimize water formation can be considered.
CO2 + C 2 CO

Reverse Boudouard reaction

H298K = 40.8 kcal/mol

(9)

This coal gasification can be used at temperature above 800C (using fluidized bed reactors
and molten salt media). The direct conversion of CO2 to CO using a thermochemical cycle
and solar energy is also being studied (Galvez et al. 2008), (Travnor and Jensen 2002). Then,
methanol is obtained by adding hydrogen (10). It is also possible to produce methanol from
CO2 and H2O with an electrochemical process.
CO + 2 H2 CH3OH

3.5

(10)

DME production

To produce DME, the methanol is dehydrated and the reaction (11) is carried out catalytically
over varied solid acids such as alumina or phosphoric acid modified -Al2O3.
2 CH3OH CH3OCH3 + H2O

(11)

The flow sheet is shown below in Figure 6, and explanations are following. Crude methanol
is pumped up to 16.8 atm and combined a methanol recycle stream. The mixture is then sent
into heat exchanger E-101 where it is heated to a temperature of 250C before it is sent to the
reactor, R-101, to form DME. The reaction is slightly exothermic and the reaction products
13

are heated to approximately 365C before leaving the reactor. The reactor effluent is cooled in
E-102 and then throttled to 10 atm before entering the first distillation column T-101. Here,
the DME is separated as head product. The bottom product, containing the methanol and the
water, is throttled to 6.9 atm and sent to the second distillation column T-102 to eliminate the
waste components. The waste components exit as distillate, and have to be cleaned in a waste
treatment facility. The water and methanol exit as the bottoms stream. This stream is then
throttled to 1 atm and then sent to the last distillation column T-103 where the water and
methanol are separated. The water exits the bottom of the distillation column, and is sent to
waste treatment. The methanol exits the column as distillate and is pumped up to 16.8 atm and
recycled back to mix with fresh methanol.

Figure 6 - DME production flowsheet (West Virginia University 1999)

3.6

Utility and offsite system

All around this DME plant in Iceland, some basic utilities are needed. It consists of the
following (not exhaustive list) (The Ministry of Industry et al. 2010):
- The electrical power supply will be from an outside system (from the national grid or
a power station). The electricity demand of the plant exceeds the currently available
surplus power, so a new power generation and supply system will be required.
14

- The cooling system for the plant will be a closed circuit of clean water (sea water)
- The raw water will be from an outside water supply network and fed to inside water
treatment for users.
- The effluent water will be discharged to the sea after treatment
- Steam will be generated at the ELKEM plant utilizing the waste heat of the flue gas
stream.
- Boiler feed water will be treated in a de-mineralized water treatment unit and sent to
ELKEM for steam generation.
- A Flare system for effluent gases.
- An incinerator unit for effluent flammable liquids.
- Product storage will be provided for both methanol and DME.

4 Environmental impact analysis

The plant emission has been evaluated based on the conceptual design of the plant. The good
point is that all environmental regulations are respected and the plant does not discharge any
harmful material to the environment.

Furthermore, by treating the flue gas from the ELKEM plant, which is currently discharged to
the atmosphere, the combined emissions from both plants will be much less, and thus the
overall environmental impact is improved (The Ministry of Industry et al. 2010). Also
according to the Mannvit assessment, the emission to air and discharges to sea seem to be a
minor issue and the project could be started.

About the waste water, in the Flue Gas Desulfurization, it is flowing into the ocean. A 10C
rise in the water temperature will only raise a bit the temperature of the sea. The other waste
water stream are not so good, slightly higher maximum values from undesirable. But as the
volume of the stream is low, this variance should be addressed in the Environmental
Operating Permit, and is not expected to pose any problems. DME production is not really a
part of the document on Large Volume Organic Chemicals or any other documents. Only the
general issues and guidance of the documents will apply to this type of process.

15

5 Potential applications and demand of DME in Iceland

5.1

Potential applications

As presented before, the consumption of diesel oil as transportation fuel for ships and
automobiles in Iceland is too important for the Icelandic government. DME is a good
substitute for diesel oil, and it has been widely used in China. Although some modification of
engine, such as replacing the fuel injection pumps and fuel tank, is required. The main
potential applications for replacement of DME are listed as follows;

- Diesel fuel for automobile

- Diesel fuel for ships
- LPG blending component for households and industry
- Coal / Natural gas / Oil for power generation

5.2

Potential demand

The major potential consumers of DME will be Ships and automobiles because there is no
demand for power generation or LPG substitute in the country. The daily average diesel oil
sales for ships and vehicles, and the equivalent quantity of DME are shown in Table 1 (The
Ministry of Industry et al. 2010).

More than 60% of this diesel oil is consumed by ships and the balance by vehicles. The fuel
consumption in Reykjavik represents 50% of the Icelandic fuel demand. The total Icelandic
demand of DME is 972 MTPD (equivalent to 722 MTPD of diesel), and the design capacity
of the future DME plant was set at 500 MTPD (Metric Tons Per Day). So, it will allow
producing around 50% of the DME demand. To ensure the total demand, 222 MTPD of diesel
are needed (decreasing by 70% the amount of diesel). Indeed, the heating value of the DME is
lower and 35% more of fuel, in mass, are needed. In addition, with this project, 150 to 250
jobs should be provided.

16

Table 1 - Diesel oil sold in Iceland in 2008 and equivalent quantity of DME (The Ministry of
Industry et al. 2010)
Ships
Reykjavik
West
West fjord
North
East
South

222
22
22
67
67
44
444

Trucks
Total
ton diesel/day
139
361
28
50
8
31
42
108
19
86
42
86
278
722

17

Ships
299
30
30
90
90
60
598

Trucks
ton DME/day
187
37
11
56
26
56
374

Total
486
67
41
146
116
116
972

Conclusion

This report only based on scientific elements describes a new dimethyl ether production
complex and its four main plants:
-

a carbon dioxide capture plant, where the flue gas from the ELKEM ferrosilicon plant
is fed to the MHIs CO2 recovery process.

a hydrogen generation plant, where hydrogen is generated by electrolysis of water.

a methanol plant, where a MHI/MGC superconverter is used. Some methods have

been presented in order to improve the methanol production.

a dimethyl ether plant, where the crude methanol is converted using a -Al2O3 catalyst.

Besides, the ELKEM plant is the best place in Iceland thanks to its offsite system. And all
environmental regulations are respected and emissions are lower than the ELKEM plant.

In addition, the production of alternative renewable energy can reduce foreign currency
expenditure to import diesel oil and using Carbon Capture System will reinforce the vision
of a zero emission society. This project will supply half of the Iceland demand and will be
a large scale test for the benefit of MHI and Iceland.

18

References
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Report; Prepared by Air Products Liquid Phase Conversion Company for the US DOE National
Energy Technology Laboratory, 2003.
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methanol and dimethyl ether: From greenhouse gas to renewable, environmentally carbon neutral
fuels and synthetic hydrocarbons, J. Org. Chem. Vol. 74, No. 2, 2009, California.
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University of Science and Technology, October 1999
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Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, 1999.
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http://www.aboutdme.org/, 06/10/2010
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dioxide recovery in power plant by chemical absorption method and steam system. Energy
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lecture, SINTEF Materials and Chemistry, 2010.
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Innovation Center Iceland Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. Mitsubishi Corporation Hekla hf.
NordicBlueEnergy, A feasibility study report for a DME project in Iceland, February 2010.
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https://www1.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells/production/electro_processes.html, 25/10/2010

19

Appendices

Appendix 1 - Energy supply and demand situation in Iceland (IEA 2005)

Appendix 2 Principle methods for CO2 capture from power plants (Bolland 2010)

20

Appendix 3 Classification of post-combustion methods for CO2 capture (Bolland 2010)

Appendix 4 Choice of most relevant hydrogen sources (Daimler 2010)

21

Appendix 5 Simplified process flow sheet for electrolysis (Stoll and Linde 2000)

Appendix 6 Hydrogen production costs (NextHyLight 2010)

22