Dimethyl ether production via dry reforming and dimethyl ether synthesis in a vessel

Abstract

A system and method for producing dimethyl ether (DME) via dry reforming and DME synthesis in the same vessel, including converting methane and carbon dioxide in the vessel into syngas (including hydrogen and carbon monoxide) via dry reforming in the vessel, cooling the syngas via a heat exchanger in the vessel, and synthesizing DME from the syngas in the vessel.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A dimethyl ether (DME) production system comprising:
 a reactor vessel comprising:
 a feed inlet to receive a feed comprising methane and carbon dioxide; 
 a dry reforming section comprising a dry reforming catalyst in the reactor vessel to convert the methane and the carbon dioxide into syngas comprising hydrogen and carbon monoxide; 
 a heat exchange section comprising a heat exchanger in the reactor vessel to receive the syngas from the dry reforming section and cool the syngas with a cooling medium; and 
 a DME synthesis section comprising a DME synthesis catalyst in the reactor vessel to synthesize DME from the syngas and discharge an effluent comprising the DME from the reactor vessel. 
   
     
     
         2 . The DME production system of  claim 1 , comprising a separation system to remove components from the effluent as discharged to give the DME as DME product, the components comprising hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide, wherein the separation system comprises a flash vessel, and wherein the reactor vessel comprises an effluent outlet for discharge of the effluent from the reactor vessel. 
     
     
         3 . The DME production system of  claim 2 , wherein the reactor vessel comprises an inlet to receive at least one of the components removed from the effluent. 
     
     
         4 . The DME production system of  claim 1 , wherein the dry reforming catalyst is a fixed bed of catalyst in the dry reforming section in the reactor vessel, and wherein the DME synthesis catalyst is a fixed bed of catalyst in the DME synthesis section in the reactor vessel. 
     
     
         5 . The DME production system of  claim 1 , wherein the reactor vessel comprises a hydrogen inlet to receive hydrogen to increase a molar ratio of hydrogen to carbon monoxide of the syngas in the reactor vessel. 
     
     
         6 . The DME production system of  claim 5 , comprising a water electrolysis unit comprising a water-electrolysis electrochemical cell to provide the hydrogen received at the hydrogen inlet. 
     
     
         7 . The DME production system of  claim 6 , comprising a control valve disposed along a conduit conveying the hydrogen to the hydrogen inlet, wherein the control valve controls flow rate of the hydrogen from the water electrolysis unit to the reactor vessel. 
     
     
         8 . The DME production system of  claim 1 , comprising a control valve disposed along a conduit conveying the carbon dioxide for the feed to control flow rate of the carbon dioxide to give a specified amount of carbon dioxide of the feed. 
     
     
         9 . The DME production system of  claim 8 , wherein the specified amount comprises a ratio of the carbon dioxide to the methane of the feed or a concentration of the carbon dioxide in the feed. 
     
     
         10 . The DME production system of  claim 1 , wherein the heat exchanger comprises a shell-and-tube heat exchanger, and wherein the cooling medium comprises cooling water.