Catalytic dehydration of methanol to dimethyl ether (DME) over Al-HMS catalysts

A series of Al-HMS with different Si/Al ratio was used as a solid acid catalyst for methanol dehydration to dimethyl ether (DME). The effect of temperature, feed composition, space velocity, and the catalyst Si/Al ratio on the catalytic dehydration of methanol was investigated. By decreasing Si/Al, the temperature required to reach equilibrium conversion of methanol decreased due to the increased number of acidic sites. Compared to commercial γ-Al2O3, Al-HMS-5 and Al-HMS-10, catalysts exhibited a high yield of DME. Among all Al-HMS catalysts, Al-HMS-10 exhibited an optimum yield of 89% with 100% selectivity and excellent stability for methanol dehydration to DME.