RESEARCH ARTICLE

Tiejun WANG, Yuping LI, Longlong MA, Chuangzhi WU

Biomass to dimethyl ether by gasication/synthesis
technologyan alternative biofuel production route
Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010
Abstract Technical and economic analysis was done for
the biomass to dimethyl ether (DME) technology to
promote the gasication/synthesis route for biofuel
production and its application as a fossil fuel substitute.
The technology of biomass gasication/synthesis has
obvious advantages, including production exibility,
environmental friendliness, economic feasibility, and
application versatility. Biomass gasication/synthesis
technology integrates bio-DME synthesis, fertilizer pro-
duction, electricity generation, and waste heat utilization to
convert waste biomass residues to DME for use as liquid
petroleum gas, transportation fuel substitute, and chemical
intermediates, which has been proven to be one of the most
effective and clean biomass utilization routes. The 1000 t/
a-scale demonstration plant has a bio-DME production rate
of 6 to 7t
biomass
/t
DME
, biomass gasication efciency of
82%, once-through CO conversion of 70%, DME
selectivity (DME/DME + other organic products)
of 90%, and a total system efciency of 38%. The
demonstration plant also has self-sufcient steam and
electricity supply. The 10,000tons/a-scale bio-DME pro-
duction cost with or without feedstock subsidy is estimated
to be 1968 Yuan/t and 2868 Yuan/t, respectively in China.
Because of the limitation in biomass feedstock collection
cost, massive and disperse commercial plants with a
capacity of 10000 t/a bio-DME are more suitable for rural
areas.
Keywords technical and economic analysis, biomass,
dimethyl ether, gasication/synthesis
1 Introduction
Limited amounts of fossil fuel reserves and strict
environmental regulations have resulted in a growing
interest in biofuel production as a means of modernized
biomass energy for sustainable development in many
countries [1]. This interest has led to an increase in the
amount of research and development of rst- and second-
generation biofuel technologies and processes in recent
years. First-generation biofuels, such as ethanol and
butanol obtained through hydrolysis/fermentation of
starches or sugar, biodiesel by transesterication of plant
oils, and pure plant oils from reneries usually have severe
limitations, including direct competition with food produc-
tion, utilization of only a portion of the total biomass, and
low land-use efciency [2]. In contrast, there is a broad
prospect for second-generation biofuels because of their
feedstock of non-edible, lignocellulosic biomass, which
include crop residuals (e.g., corn stalks or rice husks),
woody crops, or energy grasses. Bio- and thermo-chemical
processes have been developed by enzymatic hydrolysis to
produce ethanol or butanol and by gasication/synthesis to
produce methanol, dimethyl ether (DME), mixed alcohols,
and Fischer-Tropsch (FT) gasoline/diesel [3,4].
Dimethyl ether, the simplest kind of ether (CH
3
OCH
3
),
is a colorless and ammable gas at ambient temperature
and pressure. It is also a non-carcinogenic, non-teratogenic,
non-mutagenic, non-toxic, environmentally benign, and
green industrial product. It has no carbon-carbon bonds,
and 35% of its molecule consists of oxygen. Thus, carbon
based particulate matter (PM) from fuel cannot form,
leading to a high combustion efciency and an ideal clean
fuel. Because of its potential application in various sectors
as LPG substitute in households and as diesel substitute in
transportation engines and power generators, it has been
touted by Amoco as A fuel for the 21st century [5,6].
It is now manufactured mainly through a two-step
process, consisting of conversion of syngas (CO+H
2
) to
methanol and methanol dehydration to DME. Direct or
one-step DME synthesis from syngas is currently under
development and is a more thermodynamically and
economically favorable process [7]. Moreover, the
increased CO conversion, decreased reaction pressure,
simplied production processes, and reduced cost of this
technique also introduces new routes for DME produc-
tion.
Received April 12, 2010; accepted June 28, 2010
Tiejun WANG, Yuping LI, Longlong MA, Chuangzhi WU ()
Key Laboratory of Renewable Energy and Gas Hydrate, Guangzhou
Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Guangzhou 510640, China
E-mail: wucz@ms.giec.ac.cn
Front. Energy 2011, 5(3): 330339
DOI 10.1007/s11708-010-0121-y
Several pilot-scale plants for one-step DME manufac-
ture have been built or proposed. Liquid phase DME
synthesis (LPDEM) in a slurry bubble column reactor was
developed by Air Products and Chemicals Inc. using a bi-
functional, powdered catalyst (Cu-based methanol catalyst
+Al
2
O
3
+solid acidic silica). A CO conversion rate of
65% and a DME selectivity of 76% were obtained, and
a 4 t/d pilot-plant has also been established. Studies on
slurry phase DME synthesis were made by NKK
Corporation using superne catalyst particles (Cu/Zn/
AlCu/Al
2
O
3
= 21) suspended in a slurry solvent of n-
hexadecane under the condition of H
2
/CO= 2.0, 3.0
7.0 MPa, 250C 280C, and GHSV= 4000 h
1
, which
resulted in a CO conversion of 53.9% and a DME
selectivity of 72.4%. Based on these fundamental results,
NKK Corporation conducted a four-year development
project of 5 t/d test plant [7]. In China, direct DME
synthesis in a xed bed reactor has been tested by the
Institute of Catalysis, Zhejiang University using Cu-based
catalysts, which resulted in a CO conversion rate of 83%
and a DME selectivity of 95%. A 5 t/d demonstration plant
has also been established. Other research centers, such as
Tsinghua University, Institute of Shanxi Coal Chemistry,
and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese
Academy of Sciences, also established distinctive demon-
stration plants for the conversion of direct syngas to DME.
At present, however, the syngas used for DME synthesis
has generally been derived from natural gas, naphtha,
heavy oil, or coal. Biomass to liquid fuels such as methanol
or DME is still in the lab- or pilot-scale test level [8].
As one of the most promising options for biofuels,
conversion of biomass to liquid fuel (BTL) is an indirect
liquefaction technology wherein biomass is rst thermo-
gasied to raw syngas and subsequently converted to a
high-quality designed fuel over different FT catalysts. The
obtained biofuels can be used as substitute for various
fossil fuels, including gasoline, diesel, kerosene, and
oxygenated fuels (methanol, DME and mixed alcohols).
Compared with direct biomass liqueed products, such as
pyrolysis oil, BTL fuels are always ultra clean with high
purity and low S and N content, making them easy to
connect to the currently existing fossil fuel supply system
and available in many application sectors. However, raw
syngas derived from biomass gasication is comprised of
CO
2
and tar-rich with a low H
2
/CO ratio, which is quite
different from industrial syngas obtained from coal or
natural gas [9]. To fulll the H
2
/CO ratio requirement for
liquid fuel synthesis processes, some stoichiometric
adjustment methods, including methane reforming and
H
2
addition, have been tested, but this could result in
further expenses. Thus, exploitation of biomass-based
gasication and bio-syngas-oriented FT synthesis pro-
cesses is crucial for the sustainable development of BTL
technology.
The versatile application prospects of BTL have drawn
considerable worldwide attention since the 1980s. This has
resulted in the establishment of several demonstration
plants, such as the two-stage pressurized biomass gasica-
tion performed by TNO-MEP (TNO Environment Energy
and Process Innovation) in the Netherlands, the biomass/
coal co-gasication combined with FT synthesis and
electricity generation by TNO-MEP, the Hynol methanol
project from biomass and natural gas by the EPA
(Environmental Protection Agency) and the California
University, the bio-MeOH project by MHI (Mitsubishi
Heavy Industries, Ltd), NREL (National Renewable
Energy Laboratory), and DOE (Department of Energy),
the BAL-fuels project in Sweden (MeOH 1000 t/d, 1997),
and the bio-diesel project by Choren Company in Germany
(1000 t/a in 2002, 10000 t/a in 2005) [10]. A 5 tons/day-
scale DME production experiment has also been com-
pleted by JFE Inc. from 1997 to 2000. A larger-scale DME
plant using pine sawdust and waste plastic, combined with
heat and electricity production, has also been built from
2002 to 2006 in Kushiro. The operation lasted for 154 days
with a total DME yield of 7970 tons. Catalyst activity
remained stable for 111 days
1)
[11,12].
Although the conversion process of biomass to DME is
expected to improve overall carbon usage and economy on
a large scale, few concrete experiments have been reported.
Research and development on uidized-bed biomass
gasication has been conducted in the Guangzhou Institute
of Energy Conversion (GIEC) for over 3 decades, and
more than 20 biomass integrated gasication and cyclic
power generating plants of 310 MW have been built,
providing effective technical support for the establishment
of a distributed biomass power system in China. Based on
the mature and international advanced uidized-bed
biomass gasication technology, the 100 t/a scale- and
1000 t/a scale-integrated Bio-DME synthesis systems from
biomass have been launched in 2006 and 2009, respec-
tively [13]. In this paper, integrated systems for the 100 t/a
scale and 1000 t/a scale Bio-DME synthesis from biomass
were described. The technical and economic feasibility of
developing bio-DME by gasication/synthesis technology
in China was analyzed.
2 Integrated system of biomass conversion
to DME
2.1 100 t/a-scale system
The bio-syngas was produced using the two-stage
gasication technology. As illustrated in Fig. 1, the
biomass feedstock (dried corncob) was primarily pyro-
lyzed at 400C in a pyrolyzer. The pyrolysates were then
gasied in a downstreamgasier to produce rawbio-syngas.
1) IDA. www.aboutdme.org (International DME Association, IDA)
Tiejun WANG et al. Biomass to dimethyl ether by gasication/synthesis technology 331
The pressure swing adsorption (PSA) unit generated O
2
-
rich gases for the gasier. The gasication temperature
exceeded 1000C, resulting in effective tar cracking. The
tar content in the bio-syngas was below 20 mg/m
3
.
Particles in raw bio-syngas were removed using a bag
lter with an accuracy of less than 1 m because of the size
of the ash particles, which were 250 m in diameter. The
pressure drop of the bag lter was below 1.5 kPa when it
ran at 0.40.5 MPa, 200C260C, and 1 m/min of
ltration velocity. After cooling, the bio-syngas was
transferred to the syngas tank using a roots blower. The
composition (vol%) of the bio-syngas was (H
2
) 25%
38%, (CO) 25%38%, (CO
2
) 16%25%, (CH
4
) 0%
2%, (O
2
) <1%, (C
2 +
) <0.05%, (N
2
) 8%10%, and
H
2
/CO= 0.981.17.
The 100 t/a-scale DME synthesis system for bio-syngas
is depicted in Fig. 2. The bio-syngas was rst compressed
to 1.6 MPa, and CO
2
volume content in the bio-syngas
based on the PSA system decreased to below 10%. The
bio-syngas was then compressed to 4.5 MPa, and S, Cl,
and O
2
in the bio-syngas were removed by desulphuriza-
tion catalyst, activated carbon, and Pd-based catalyst in the
absorber, respectively. The obtained syngas was then
converted directly to DME over a Cu-Zn-Al/HZSM-5
catalyst in a xed-bed synthesis reactor at 4.24.4 MPa and
260C270C. The raw DME products were absorbed by
soft water and then rectied to produce pure DME
products. The unconverted syngas could be recycled for
DME synthesis or combusted in the gas engine for
electricity generation.
1corncob inlet; 2pyrolyzer; 3gasier; 4heat exchanger; 5bag lter; 6PSA unit;
7cooler; 8roots blower; 9syngas owmeter; 10gas tank
Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of bio-syngas production using two-stage gasication
1bio-syngas inlet; 2compressor; 3,4,5CO
2
removal system; 6absorber I; 7absorber II; 8synthesis reactor; 9cooler;
10gas liquid separator; 11soft water tank; 12absorb tower; 13intermediate products tank; 14rectier; 15cooler;
16calculation tank; 17heater; 18storage tank; 19,20heating oil
Fig. 2 100 t/a-scale DME synthesis system from bio-syngas
332 Front. Energy 2011, 5(3): 330339
The main results are listed in Table 1. Compared with
industry syngas [f = (H
2
CO
2
)/(CO+CO
2
) = 2.0], bio-
syngas in the DME synthesis reactor inlet (f =
0.548 0.662) was CO-rich and CO
2
-rich. After a once-
through DME synthesis, the CO conversion, DME
selectivity, and DME yield were 73%82%, 70%74%,
and 124203 kg/(m
3
$h), respectively.
2.2 1000 t/a-scale demonstration plant
Based on results of the 100 t/a-scale system, a 1000 t/a-
scale demonstration plant was established in November
2008. The ow sheet of the system is shown in Fig. 3. The
whole system for the demonstration plant consists of four
units: the gasication unit for converting solid biomass to
raw bio-syngas; the raw bio-syngas cleaning and composi-
tion adjustment; the once-through DME synthesis unit; and
the DME rening unit consisting of extraction, adsorption,
and distillation. The existence of contaminants (ying ash,
tar, Cl, S, NH
3
and small char particles) in the raw bio-
syngas was removed to avoid poisoning and deactivating
the catalysts in the downstream units. The bio-syngas
composition was also adjusted to meet with the require-
ments of DME synthesis. In order to increase total
efciency, waste heat from the boiler, gas engine, or
steam turbine was integrated in the demonstration plant to
generate heat or electricity
1)
.
To satisfy the requirements of large-scale bio-syngas
production, the bio-syngas production system in the
1000 t/a-scale demonstration plant was made different
from that of the 100 t/a-scale system. As shown in Fig. 4,
the system was composed of a biomass feeder, a uidized-
bed gasier, a downer reactor, a reformer, a water scrubber,
and a synthesis gas tank. Pine sawdust was gasied in the
uidized-bed gasier with air, oxygen, and steam. The
obtained raw fuel gas passed through the downer reactor to
eliminate tar content through thermal cracking and separate
coking particles. Then, it was fed into the multi-tube
reformer (cube-shaped, 1 m1 m1 m) heated with a
diesel burner. The 49 reaction tubes (ID: 93 mm, length:
1.2 m) were arranged into 7 columns and 7 rows in the
reformer. Ten pieces of MCNi
0.51
Mg
0.49
O catalysts were
packed in each tubular tube and separated by 1 cm inert
ceramic rings. Synthesis gas was then puried using a
water scrubber to further eliminate particles and other
impurities. Finally, it was pumped by the roots blower to
the gas tank and prepared for DME synthesis.
Photographs of the 1000 t/a-scale demonstration plant
are presented in Fig. 5. A novel gasication system
(bubbling uidized-bed + downer thermal cracking reac-
tor) was adopted to enhance gasication efciency to
above 82%. Reaction heat and tail gas were used to
generate steam and electricity, respectively, and achieve
steam and electricity self-sufciency. The detailed techni-
cal index of the demonstration plant is as follows: a bio-
DME production rate of 67 t
biomass
/t
DME
, a biomass
gasication efciency of 82%, a once-through CO con-
version of 70%, DME selectivity (DME/DME +other
organic products) of 90%, and total system efciency
of 38%. Steam and electricity were self-supplied.
Table 1 Main results under typical conditions
ow rate/(m
3
$h
1
)
composition of gases (mole fraction)/%
H
2
CO CO
2
N
2
CH
4
C
2
~ DME CH
3
OH
compressor
outlet
43.00 26.59 23.98 32.57 14.06 2.80 <0.03
24.00 28.63 28.19 28.75 12.04 2.39 <0.03
synthesis
reactor inlet
34.03 35.15 31.87 11.42 18.19 3.37 <0.03
18.24 37.60 35.39 8.54 15.65 2.82 <0.03
synthesis
reactor outlet
26.75 25.57 11.56 26.33 23.62 1.91 0.15 10.41 0.45
13.04 23.65 9.04 27.81 24.68 1.83 0.13 12.74 0.12
1) IDA. www.aboutdme.org (International DME Association, IDA)
Fig. 3 Flow sheet of bio-DME production by gasication/synthesis technology
Tiejun WANG et al. Biomass to dimethyl ether by gasication/synthesis technology 333
3 Application competitive analysis
3.1 DME fuel properties and application
Dimethyl ether is the simplest ether with general ether
properties. It does not contribute to the greenhouse effect
and ozone layer depletion because of its decomposition in
the troposphere after several hours. It also does not corrode
metals and causes less irritation when it comes in contact
with skin, making it a green chemical. DME can be
liqueed easily at 0.50.6 MPa and room temperature. It
shares similar physical properties with LPG, a comparison
of which is presented in Table 2.
The saturated vapor pressure of DME is lower than that
of LPG at the same temperature, resulting in safer storage
and distribution of DME. The lower explosion limit of
DME in air is 3.5%, one-fold higher than that of LPG,
further indicating its safe application. Although the LHVof
Fig. 4 Schematic diagram of bio-syngas production system in the 1000 t/a-scale demonstration plant
Fig. 5 Photographs of the 1000 t/a-scale bio-DME demonstration plant
Table 2 Comparison of DME and LPG
properties DME LPG
molecular weight/(kg$kmol
1
) 46 4446
vapor pressure (60C)/MPa 1.35 1.92
low heat value (LHV)/(MJ$kg
1
) 28.4 45.76
lower explosive limit/% 3.5 1.7
stoichiometric air/fuel ratio/(m
3
$kg
1
) 7.46 12.02
low heat value of premixed air/fuel gas/(MJ$m
3
) 4.22 3.91
theoretical combustion temperature/C 2250 2055
334 Front. Energy 2011, 5(3): 330339
DME is lower than that of LPG, the theoretical combustion
temperature of premixed air/DME gas is higher because of
the lower stoichiometric air/fuel ratio resulting from 35%
oxygen content of DME molecules.
Compared with LPG, CNG, methanol, and other
alternative fuels with cetane numbers that are usually
below 10 and can only be used in spark ignition engines,
DME is more suitable in compression ignition engines
after liquefaction because of its high cetane number of 55
60 and low self-ignition temperature. The cetane number
of DME is somewhat higher than that of fossil diesel,
implying that it has shorter ignition times and cleaner
combustion. It does not cause any cold start problems
because of its high volatility in contrast with alcohol fuels,
such as methanol and ethanol. The diesel engine test
showed that fuel injection pressure can be decreased when
DME is used, leading to a smoother combustion process
and lower NO
x
emissions and noise. Its simple molecular
composition with an oxygen content of 35%also results in
a highly efcient and clean combustion in the engine
chamber, thereby reducing exhaust emissions of carbon
soot and black smoke [6].
Experimental results obtained from Amoco Company,
Haldor Tropsoe A/S, Navistar Company, Avl Company,
and Xian Jiaotong University (China) [8] also showed that
DME could not be mixed with diesel, but retrotting diesel
engines for the use of DME was relatively simple and that
the geometry of the fuel system could be modied because
of the lower energy content and density of DME. The high
quality and clean combustion characteristics of DME make
it an excellent alternative fuel and a substitute for diesel.
Emission tests in diesel engines and modied diesel
engines indicate that the automobile exhaust satises the
requirements of ultra low emission vehicle standards and
strict Euro III emission standards. Comparisons are made
in Tables 3 and 4.
3.2 Technical advantages of biomass to DME
The unique conversion technology of biomass to DME by
gasication/synthesis has advantages in exibility, envir-
onmental friendliness, economic feasibility, and versatility
in applications.
3.2.1 Flexibility
Bio-syngas from biomass gasication can be totally
converted to DME by increasing the recycle ratio in the
reactor or partly converting by once-through process
mode, which means that one part of the bio-syngas is used
for DME synthesis, while the other part (tail gas) is utilized
to generate electricity or heat. Appropriate proportions of
DME synthesis and electricity generation can be adjusted
exibly according to the actual operation situation to
obtain reasonable system efciency and decrease DME
cost. This exibility also meets the utilization feature of
biomass feedstock because of distributed location and
strong season-dependent collection.
3.2.2 Environmentally sound
Biomass feedstock has a short carbon cycle because no net
CO
2
is released to the air, apart from the emissions due to
production and transport of biomass feedstock and biofuel.
Bio-DME can be considered as climate-neutral. More-
over, since the bio-syngas has been cleaned thoroughly
before it is fed to the synthesis reactor, the bio-DME
produced is extremely clean. Combustion of DME can
result in a high efciency with reduced NO
x
, SO
x
, and
carbon soot emissions because of the 35% oxygen content
in DME molecular structures.
3.2.3 Economic feasibility
DME has a high economic value because of its wide
application as fuel for various consumption sectors such as
household, transportation, and power generation. Optimal
balance of DME synthesis and power generation can be
easily achieved to lower DME production cost and prices
of biomass feedstock and electricity. The one-step and low
pressure bio-DME synthesis process reduces compressor
work, simplies device control, decreases equipment size,
and lowers investment cost.
3.2.4 Versatile application
The gasication/synthesis bio-DME technology can con-
vert agricultural and forestry waste biomass residues to
Table 3 DME engine emissions compared with Euro III diesel
items Euro III diesel DME engine
HC(hydrocarbons) 0.60 0.2
CO 2.0 2.17
NO
x
5.0 3.85
PM(particulate matter) 0.1 0.05
* based on the ECE R49 certication test
Table 4 DME engine emissions compared with ULEV
items ULEV diesel DME engine
NMHC( non- met hane
hydrocarbons)
1.3 0.21
CO 7.2 3.2
NO
x
+HC 2.5 2.4
PM(particulate matter) 0.05 0.033
HCHO 0.25 0.22
* based on the ECE R49 certication test
Tiejun WANG et al. Biomass to dimethyl ether by gasication/synthesis technology 335
high-grade DME fuels and serve as a substitute household
energy for LPG. This technology can also be used in local
conversion and selling in rural areas. Thus, this technology
has a broad prospect for popularization and application in
rural villages in China.
This gasication/synthesis technology integrates bio-
DME synthesis, fertilizer production, power generation,
and waste heat utilization into one system and converts
waste biomass residues to DME, for use as LPG and
transportation fuel substitute or as chemical intermediates.
The technique has been proven to be one of the most
effective and clean biomass utilization routes.
3.3 Bio-DME production cost and competitiveness
The nal production cost for conversion of biomass to
DME, including biomass feedstock, chemicals, catalyst,
and personnel, among others, is sensitive to production
capacity. Table 5 shows the primary analysis of bio-DME
production cost in a 10000 t/a-scale demonstration plant.
The bio-DME production cost with or without biomass
feedstock subsidy is 1968 Yuan/t and 2868 Yuan/t, respec-
tively. Considering the increasing LPG CIF price and LHV,
the bio-DME wholesale price of 4000 Yuan/t is reasonable
and protable, even without biomass feedstock subsidy.
Moreover, there is no rafnate existence, and the
combusting temperature increases through the mixed
burning of 15%20% DME with LPG. Thus, blending
DME with LPG is attractive and economically competi-
tive. With the tendency of prices for petroleum products,
such as LPG, to increase, bio-DME production from an
abundant feedstock of biomass by gasication/synthesis
technology has an obvious advantage in technical
economy in the future.
As shown in Table 6, the investment cost in a commercial
scale bio-DME plant of 3000 t/a and 10000 t/a will be
37.25 million Yuan and 74.95 million Yuan, respectively.
To produce one ton of bio-DME, consumption of
biomass feedstock, electricity, steam, and water is
estimated to be 5.73 t, 80 kW, 0.4 t/h and 2.6 t/h,
respectively. The economic benet analysis of bio-DME
production by gasication/synthesis technology is pre-
sented in Table 7.
From the above estimation, it can be concluded that a
plant with a capacity for producing 300010000 t/a bio-
DME is the most appropriate. A smaller one will result in
high management costs, while a larger one will result in
difculties in biomass feedstock collection. Bio-DME
production cost is in the range of 20002800 Yuan/t. Based
on the latest LPG CIF price and LHV 1.61-fold of DME,
the bio-DME wholesale price of 4000 Yuan/t is feasible
and protable. The sensitivity and uncertainty analyses
(Tables 810) show that the rate of return on investment is
the most affected by production capacity, biomass feed-
stock price, and bio-DME wholesale price. The rate of
return on investment increased from 10.0%to 27.1%when
the bio-DME production scale was raised from 3000 to
10000 t/a. The rate increased by 3.16-fold and 3.90-fold
when the biomass feedstock price and the bio-DME
wholesale price were in the 200500 Yuan/t and 3000
6000 Yuan/t range, respectively under the same conditions.
4 Industrialization strategy of gasication/
synthesis technology
Currently, the production cost of FT fuel conversion into
bio-DME is higher than that of fossil automotive fuels.
Bio-DME production without biomass feedstock subsidy
is unable to compete with conventional DME production
Table 5 Production cost in RMB Yuan per ton bio-DME in the 10000
t/a-scale plant
items costs (bio-DME) /(Yuan$t
1
)
biomass feedstock (6 t300 Yuan/t) 1800
catalyst 78
electricity 100
personnel 160
maintenance &management 130
equipment depreciation 400
other utilities 200
production cost 2868
biomass subsidy (6 t150 Yuan/t) 900
actual production cost 1968
Table 6 Investment cost in commercial scale bio-DME production
plant
items costs/10
4
Yuan
3000 t/a 10000 t/a
gasication 570 865
DME synthesis and purication 1460 3120
fuel supply 155 290
gas cooling, shift, and cleaning 75 170
waste water treatment 110 245
water supply 55 155
boiler, power, electricity 305 450
process control 95 150
auxiliary utilities and offsites 120 350
civil and building 100 200
interest, management, commission
and startup
600 1280
contingencies 80 220
grand total investment 3725 7495
336 Front. Energy 2011, 5(3): 330339
economically, and neither is methanol/DME nor FT diesel
(gasoline) by thermal gasication/synthesis from biomass
commercially available in the market. Some demonstration
projects were mothballed when the test program was
completed in the 1980s because of economic or technical
reasons.
Considering rising oil prices and contaminant limitation
in modern society and technical development status for the
proposed process, a new strategy for industrialization and
Table 7 Economic benet analysis of bio-DME production by gasication/synthesis technology
number items technical index economic index calculation method
[1] bio-DME plant capacity/(t$a
1
) 3000 10000
[2] operation time/(h$a
1
) 6000 6000
[3] biomass consumption rate/(kg$kg
1
) 6 6
[4] biomass consumption/(10
4
t$a
1
) 1.8 6 [1][3]/10000
[5] biomass price/(Yuan$t
1
) 300 300
[6] catalyst consumption/(t$a
1
) 2 6
[7] catalyst price/(10
4
Yuan$t
1
) 13 13
[8] biomass feedstock/(10
4
Yuan$t
1
) 540 1800 [4][5]
[9] personnel/(10
4
Yuan$a
1
) 160 160 20000 Yuan/(aperson) 80 person
[10] catalyst/(10
4
Yuan$a
1
) 26 78 [6][7]
[11] electricity/(10
4
Yuan$a
1
) 30 100 100 Yuan/t
[12] maintenance/(10
4
Yuan$a
1
) 50 80
[13] management/(10
4
Yuan$a
1
) 30 50
[14] fuel, water/(10
4
Yuan$a
1
) 60 200 100 Yuan/t
[15] equipment depreciation/(10
4
Yuan$a
1
) 200 400 15 years depreciation
[16] grand total operation cost/(10
4
Yuan$a
1
) 1096 2868 [8]+ [9]+ + [15]
[17] biomass subsidy/(10
4
Yuan$a
1
) 270 900 150 Yuan/t
[18] actual operation cost/(10
4
Yuan$a
1
) 826 1968 [16][17]
[19] DME production cost/(Yuan$t
1
) 2753 1968 [16]/[1] 10000
[20] DME wholesale price/(Yuan$t
1
) 4000 4000
[21] sales income/(10
4
Yuan$a
1
) 1200 4000 [1][19]/10000
[22] prot and tax/(10
4
Yuan$a
1
) 374 2032 [21] [18]
[23] business tax/(10
4
Yuan$a
1
) 0 0
[24] income tax/(10
4
Yuan$a
1
) 0 0 tax exemption policy
[25] prot/(10
4
Yuan$a
1
) 374 2032 [22] [23] [24]
[26] grand total investment/(10
6
Yuan$a
1
) 37.25 74.95
[27] rate of return on investment/% 10.04 27.11 [23]/ [26] 100
Table 8 Effect of bio-DME production capacity on rate of return on
investment
items bio-DME production capacity/(t$a
1
)
3000 5000 10000
biomass price/(Yuan$t
1
) 300 300 300
bio-DME wholesale price/(Yuan$t
1
) 4000 4000 4000
rate of return on investment/% 10.0 14.5 27.1
Table 9 Effect of biomass feedstock price on rate of return on
investment
items raw biomass price/(Yuan$t
1
)
200 300 400 500
bio-DME production scale/(t$a
1
) 10000 10000 10000 10000
bio-DME wholesale price/(Yuan$t
1
) 4000 4000 4000 4000
rate of return on investment/% 35.1 27.1 19.1 11.1
Table 10 Effect of bio-DME wholesale price on rate of return on
investment
items bio-DME wholesale price/(Yuan$t
1
)
3000 4000 5000 6000
bio-DME production scale/(t$a
1
) 10000 10000 10000 10000
biomass price/(Yuan$t
1
) 300 300 300 300
rate of return on investment/% 13.8 27.1 40.4 53.8
Tiejun WANG et al. Biomass to dimethyl ether by gasication/synthesis technology 337
commercialization of biomass gasication/synthesis tech-
nology has become urgent and necessary.
4.1 Improving the key technology
Multiple gasication units should be adopted to ensure
continuous operation and increase gasication efciency to
above 80%. Ultra-stable Ni-based catalysts should be
developed to upgrade raw syngas. The H
2
/CO ratios of
syngas should be adjusted by reforming tar and hydro-
carbons in the presence of oxygen. The proprietary route
for the once-through bio-DME synthesis process, catalyst,
and reactor should be designed to bear the characteristics
of bio-syngas. The waste heat in the boiler, gas engine, and
steam turbine should be integrated with the gasication/
synthesis system to realize electricity and heat self-
sufciency, which can decrease production cost and
increase total efciency.
Based on the available research results and project
experience, a demonstration project with a production
capacity of 3000 t/a scale bio-DME should be established
to integrate process units for stable operations of the whole
system and obtain sufcient information for scaling up and
modeling a 10000 t/a scale bio-DME plant. The total
energy efciency is expected to be above 40%.
4.2 Establishing dispersed commercial plants in rural areas
As mentioned in the economic analysis of biomass to DME
technology, the economies of scale provides a strong
incentive for the establishment of 300010000 t/a bio-
DME commercial plants. Because of a limitation in
biomass feedstock collection cost, the transportation
distance of biomass feedstocks should be within 10 km.
The capacity of biomass feedstock collection is within
80000 t/a. The produced bio-DME can satisfy the require-
ment of household cooking of 50000100000 families.
Thus, massive, dispersed commercial plants with a
capacity of 300010000 t/a bio-DME should be estab-
lished in rural areas.
5 Conclusion
DME has attracted considerable attention over the last
decade because of its favorable properties as a diesel fuel
and LPG substitute. However, the production costs of FT
fuels, such as bio-DME produced through gasication/
synthesis from biomass, are higher than those of fossil
automotive fuels, impeding its development and applica-
tion. A number of strategies are being explored, including
improving key technology (multiple gasication, raw bio-
syngas reforming, integrating the whole system), establish-
ing demonstration projects, and scaling up dispersed
commercial plants to achieve bio-DME production at
low costs, which could compete with fossil fuels. In
addition, a tax exemption policy on bio-DME subsidy is
benecial for the popularization of this technology under
the current normal oil price situation. Similarly, successful
biomass conversion to DME will require catalyst innova-
tions and novel engineering development that can with-
stand biomass characteristics. Moreover, there is a need for
industrial leadership to provide bio-DME production,
technology, and a whole set of equipment for the bio-
DME process.
Acknowledgements This work was supported by the National Basic
Research Program of China (Grant No. 2007CB210207), the Hi-Tech
Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2007AA05Z416),
and the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province, China (No.
9451007006004086).
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