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An Intensified Green Process for the Coproduction of DMC and DMO by the Oxidative Carbonylation of Methanol Al-Rabiah, Abdulrahman A.; Almutlaq, Abdulaziz M.; Bashth, Omar S.; Alyasser, Taher M.; Alshehri, Fayez A.; Alofai, Mohammed S.; Alshehri, Abdulelah S.

Abstract

Dimethyl carbonate (DMC) is an eco-friendly and sustainable compound with widespread industrial applications. Various extensive routes have been exploited in the chemical industry to produce DMC. However, these routes have several environmental and energy drawbacks. In this study, a promising novel industrial scheme for the synthesis of DMC via the oxidative carbonylation of vaporized methanol with dimethyl oxalate (DMO) as a byproduct is investigated. A methanol conversion of 81.86% and a DMC selectivity of 83.47% were achieved using an isothermal fixed-bed reactor at 130 °C. The DMC is withdrawn at a purity of >99 mol% via pressure-swing azeotropic distillations. Heat integration was performed to optimize energy consumption, reducing the energy requirements by 28%. An economic evaluation was performed for estimating the profitability via cash-flow diagrams, predicting a payback period of 3.7 years. The proposed green process exhibits several benefits, including high profitability and being environmentally friendly. It also eliminates the use or production of hazardous materials, and it enhances safety characteristics.

Item Metadata

Title
An Intensified Green Process for the Coproduction of DMC and DMO by the Oxidative Carbonylation of Methanol
Creator
Al-Rabiah, Abdulrahman A.; Almutlaq, Abdulaziz M.; Bashth, Omar S.; Alyasser, Taher M.; Alshehri, Fayez A.; Alofai, Mohammed S.; Alshehri, Abdulelah S.
Publisher
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Date Issued
2022-10-16
Description
Dimethyl carbonate (DMC) is an eco-friendly and sustainable compound with widespread industrial applications. Various extensive routes have been exploited in the chemical industry to produce DMC. However, these routes have several environmental and energy drawbacks. In this study, a promising novel industrial scheme for the synthesis of DMC via the oxidative carbonylation of vaporized methanol with dimethyl oxalate (DMO) as a byproduct is investigated. A methanol conversion of 81.86% and a DMC selectivity of 83.47% were achieved using an isothermal fixed-bed reactor at 130 °C. The DMC is withdrawn at a purity of >99 mol% via pressure-swing azeotropic distillations. Heat integration was performed to optimize energy consumption, reducing the energy requirements by 28%. An economic evaluation was performed for estimating the profitability via cash-flow diagrams, predicting a payback period of 3.7 years. The proposed green process exhibits several benefits, including high profitability and being environmentally friendly. It also eliminates the use or production of hazardous materials, and it enhances safety characteristics.
Subject
dimethyl carbonate; dimethyl oxalate; oxidative carbonylation; azeotropic distillation; heat integration; profitability analysis
Genre
Article
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2024-12-17
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
CC BY 4.0
DOI
10.14288/1.0447531
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/89905
Affiliation
Applied Science, Faculty of; Non UBC; Biomedical Engineering, School of
Citation
Processes 10 (10): 2094 (2022)
Publisher DOI
10.3390/pr10102094
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty; Researcher
Rights URI
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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CC BY 4.0