Specialists from Perm National Research Polytechnic University (PNIPU) have developed a technology for processing flue gases into dimethyl ether, which is used as an environmentally friendly fuel and raw material for the chemical industry.
Flue gases generated during the combustion of organic fuels in boiler houses, industrial furnaces, and thermal power plants contain a significant amount of carbon dioxide. Existing disposal methods, such as washing with chemical solutions or bioreactors with algae, require high energy consumption, expensive reagents, and complex equipment.
The installation developed at PNIPU allows not only to purify emissions but also to directly synthesize dimethyl ether. The system reduces the number of processing stages, speeding up and simplifying the process.
Dimethyl ether is used as an environmentally friendly diesel fuel, emitting a minimal amount of harmful substances during combustion. In the chemical industry, it serves as a raw material for the production of gasoline and other products.
Traditional production of the substance requires first the synthesis of methanol, and then dimethyl ether, which is accompanied by high energy consumption and the use of complex equipment. The new method allows synthesizing the final product directly from emissions, bypassing intermediate stages.
Flue gases are mixed with methane and natural gas, after which they are heated in a reactor. As a result, synthesis gas is formed — a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, which is then cooled and purified. After that, the mixture is fed into a tubular hydrocarbon synthesis reactor, where the key process of conversion to dimethyl ether takes place. The finished product is condensed in a refrigerator-separator.
The installation provides a closed technological cycle: on the one hand, emissions are reduced and the environmental problem is solved, on the other hand, a commercially valuable substance is produced. Economic efficiency is achieved by eliminating expensive reagents and complex preliminary purification stages.