A method for the production of dimethyl ehter

摘要

The present invention provides a process for the production of dimethyl ether comprising the steps of:
(a) feeding a first stream containing methanol into a pre-reactor with a fixed bed solid acidic catalytic structure thereby catalytically reacting at least a portion of methanol to form dimethyl ether and water,
(b) feeding at least a part of the product stream of the pre-reactor to a distillation column reactor
(c) contacting said stream containing methanol with a fixed bed solid acidic catalytic structure in a distillation reaction zone thereby catalytically reacting at least a portion of methanol to form dimethyl ether and water, and
(d) fractionating the resultant dimethyl ether product from water and unreacted material,
(e) withdrawing the dimethyl ether product from the distillation column reactor as a first stream containing dimethyl ether, and
(f) withdrawing water and unreacted material as a second stream. The process improves the effectiveness of the production of dimethyl ether. Especially, the process can be combined with processes for the production of methanol.