Market Applications

DME’s energy applications are divided into three categories:

-Direct combustion of DME (diesel fuel, domestic use and industrial power applications)

-Reformed gas from DME (hydrogen for fuel cell and substitute synthesis gas for power generation), and

-Direct conversion into other fuels and chemicals (gasoline, olefins, dimethoxymethane, methyl acetate, among others.).

Direct combustion DME applications

DME is an energy-transfer commodity, which is easy to handle, giving it exceptionally wide applications such as power generation, transportation fuel alternative to diesel fuel, commercial home fuel, alternative to LPG (liquefied petroleum gas), and as a source of hydrogen for fuel cells.

Diesel fuel

DME has emerged as a prominent clean diesel fuel, which fulfills the 2005 Euro-4 exhaust emission standards for Europe, and the new (Tier 3) emission standards for the USA. DME is highly suitable for applications in diesel engines. The use of DME does not require modification to the diesel engine itself, however, due to its low boiling point and low viscosity the fuel supply system has to be equipped with a low cost high-pressure fuel injection pump and the addition of a lubricity-improving agent are necessary. Several prominent car and engine companies, such as Mitsubishi, Isuzu and Volvo are developing their clear strategy on development of “eco-friendly” DME-fueled vehicles.

Power generation

DME is an excellent gas turbine fuel, which can be used directly for power generation without modifications to the turbines or the combustors.

Domestic fuel

Japan is pursuing DME intensively, in part because it is the only industrialized country that widely uses LPG for domestic applications, and in part because it is expected that future LPG (propane, butane) supplies may not be adequate to meet its domestic needs. Also, China and other emerging market countries develop extensive LPG infrastructures that could easily be adapted to DME.

Municipal gas

DME can be distributed as gas in the existing natural gas municipal grids and used for various domestic applications. Its thermal efficiency and emissions are approximately identical as with natural gas.

Markets for reformed gas from DME

Indirect power generation

DME can be used in gas turbines indirectly in the chemical recuperation mode. In this approach, waste heat from the gas turbine effluent is utilized prior to firing in the DME reforming process.

Fuel cells

Dimethyl ether can be more attractive as a direct fuel than hydrogen and methanol in fuel cell applications due to its ease of handling and thermochemical properties

Chemical building block markets of DME

DME-to-gasoline process

The DME-to-gasoline process is a modification of existing methanol-to-gasoline (MTG) catalytic processes.

DME-to-olefins process

DME is a preferred feedstock for production of olefins. This process is a modification of the DME-to-gasoline process condition.

Higher alcohol synthesis

Co-feeding experiments have shown that DME can participate substantially in the Fischer-Tropsch hydrocarbon and higher alcohols synthesis.