Process to produce DME

Abstract

A process is set forth for producing DME by dehydrating the effluent stream from a methanol reactor where the methanol reactor is a slurry bubble column reactor (SBCR) containing a methanol synthesis catalyst that converts a synthesis gas stream comprising hydrogen and carbon monoxide into an effluent stream comprising methanol. A key to the process is that the SBCR methanol can produce a relatively low water content methanol stream, thereby avoiding an intervening water removal unit between the SBCR methanol unit and the dehydration unit and/or an incremental increase in the water that must be processed by the dehydration unit.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.