New Method for Ethanol Synthesis from Dimethyl Ether and Syngas via Two-stage Reaction

Abstract

A new method for ethanol synthesis from dimethyl ether (DME) and syngas via a two-stage reaction system was established successfully. In the first stage reaction, H-mordenite zeolite catalyst was used to convert DME into methyl acetate (MA) through carbonylation reaction. The MA produced from the first stage reactor was hydrogenated by Cu/ZnO catalyst in the followed second stage reactor to form ethanol and methanol. The effect of the variation of reaction temperatures on the products distribution for each stage reaction was investigated.