A new renewable energy based dimethyl-ether (DME) production system is proposed in this paper. The DME is then produced through the indirect synthesis method where methanol is produced first through carbon hydrogenation process, then methanol derived to a process called methanol dehydration to produce the DME. The proposed integrated system consists of four main subsystems named as carbon capturing and heat recovery system, proton exchange membrane (PEM) hydrogen production system, methanol synthesis system, and the DME synthesis system. The main inputs are electrical energy from photovoltaic (PV) solar panels and thermal energy from flue gas waste heat. The system is modeled and simulated using both aspen plus process simulation software and engineering equation solver (EES) and assessed based on energy and exergy approaches. The energy and exergy efficiencies are determined to be 40.46% and 52.81%, respectively.
Issue Section:
Energy Systems Analysis
Keywords:
hydrogen,
dimethyl ether,
energy,
exergy,
renewable energy,
waste heat recovery,
electrolysis
Topics:
Carbon,
Carbon dioxide,
Ethers (Class of compounds),
Exergy,
Flue gases,
Heat,
Heat recovery,
Hydrogen,
Hydrogen production,
Manufacturing systems,
Methanol,
Proton exchange membranes,
Renewable energy,
Water,
Cements (Adhesives),
Temperature,
Solar energy,
Industrial wastes,
Heat exchangers,
Energy efficiency,
Waste heat
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