Muhaimin Iqbal
Author

The Oxygenates

Advanced Renewable

Tue , 12 Mar 2024 18:12 WIB

Ideally our fuel is hydrogen because the oxydation waste is only water. However, because the logistics of hydrogen are very expensive, requiring a pressure of 700 Bar or a temperature of minus 253 degrees Celsius, then if it has to be stored or shipped, hydrogen can be 'stored' naturally with charcoal - because it is cheaper in terms of logistics and hydrogen production.

However, if for one reason or another people are reluctant to use charcoal for various reasons, the next hydrogen carrier that is very effective is oxygenates, namely fuels that contain oxygen. Apart from being a hydrogen carrier, these oxygenates have very wide uses.

Among the most popular oxygenates are ethanol, methanol and DME. All three can be used as direct fuel or further processed or become feedstocks for various types of industry. As a fuel, DME for example can replace both LPG and diesel, ethanol can be a mixture of up to 85% with gasoline (E85), while methanol can be up to 15% mixture in gasoline (M15).

Because of their flexible use, these oxygenates can become a reliable energy stock for areas that have been dependent on energy supplies from other regions or countries. Oxygenates can be a very reliable energy security supply.

One of the R&D works of the Advanced Renewable Organization (ARO) is a microplant for the production of the 3 types of oxygenates mentioned above, namely DME, ethanol and methanol. The three are interrelated and can be made into one compact microplant package.

The raw material we choose is mixed-waste, namely waste that does not have to be sorted - between organic and non-organic, only materials that need to be taken out are those do not decompose at a temperature of 1000 degrees Celsius such as metal, glass and stone. The waste also doesn't have to be dried - because this system can process both wet and dry waste.

The principle of the process is that the waste is crushed until it becomes flour or slurry if it is wet waste, then using a special feeder called the Slurry Eductor Feeder, the flour or waste slurry is made into a steamed-slurry which is sent into the XH2 (Extra High Hydrogen) reactor. In XH2, waste is converted into H2-Rich Syngas which is ready to be used as a production base for oxygenates.

The easiest route is DME (Dimethyl Ether) first. From this DME, ethanol and methanol can be produced simultaneously through two stages, namely carbonylation of DME to become Methyl Acetate, then hydrogenolysis of Methyl Acetate to become ethnanol and methanol simultaneously. With this microplant which we call Oxygenates Supply Systems (OSS), city governments, industries, commercial and residential complexes - no longer need to throw away waste, let alone landfill it!

The image in the photo only shows the XH2 unit along with the feeder system and product separation, while the units for the DME, methanol and ethanol reactors are in the previous uploads.