Article
Performance of small-medium scale polygeneration systems for dimethyl ether and power production
Rendimiento de los sistemas de poligeneración de pequeña y mediana escala para la producción de éter dimetílico y energía
Registro en:
Energy 1 December 2019 188
0360-5442
Autor
Narvaez, A.
Chadwick, D.
Kershenbaum, L.
Resumen
Polygeneration systems have been shown to be a flexible arrangement which can meet seasonal product
demands for electric power, fuels and chemicals. This is especially relevant for small markets such as
isolated small-medium size communities demanding electricity, and fuels. This work is focused on the
feasibility of a polygeneration system based on a single-step DME plant to produce 200,000 tonnes/year
of DME and 200 MW of electricity. An economic analysis is carried out to assess different configurations
and feedstocks for syngas production. The DME-production was simulated at different possible recycle
ratios and under the condition of potentially reduced catalyst performance. In all cases, the once-through
polygeneration system showed significant improvement over all other configurations e up to 11.6%
reduction in the amount of synthesis gas required to produce DME and power e with a corresponding
reduction in “wasted” feed leaving as effluent CO2. The flexibility of an integrated system meant that, in
cases of decreased catalyst activity or selectivity, the advantages of the integrated system over standalone configurations are even greater e up to 18.6%. Moreover, polygeneration systems show further
economic advantages depending upon the selling price of electricity for both fossil fuel and biomass
sources of the syngas feedstock.