Fixed-bed reactor modeling for methanol to dimethyl ether (DME) reaction over γ-Alumina using a new practical reaction rate model

Dimethyl ether (DME) synthesis reaction rate was studied over a commercial sample of γ-Alumina to investigate the accuracy of the most applicable rate models. Due to the deviation of the former proposed models especially at temperatures below 593 K, a new simple empirical rate model was proposed. Besides, previous proposed correlations for methanol dehydration equilibrium constant were examined experimentally and a new equation was developed. Subsequently, one dimensional unsteady state heterogeneous model was applied to simulate adiabatic and non-adiabatic fixed-bed reactors. Temperature profile and methanol conversion along the reactors were predicted while varying feed rate and feed temperature.