DME News

A Clear Role for DME in the Reduction of Particulate Emissions A Statement by the International DME Association 31 July 2012 \| Washington, D.C. In a press release dated 12 June 2012, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is part of the World Health Organization (WHO), declared that diesel engine exhaust is carcinogenic to humans. The International DME Association (IDA) views this announcement as an opportunity to highlight the significant benefits of DME – dimethyl ether – when used in transport as a substitute for diesel fuel. DME is one of the most promising alternative automotive fuel solutions among the various ultra-clean, renewable, and low-carbon fuels under consideration worldwide. DME can be used as fuel in diesel engines, gasoline engines (30% DME / 70% LPG), and gas turbines. Only modest modifications are required to convert a diesel engine to run on DME and meet the most stringent international emissions standards without the need for the SCR (selective catalytic reduction) or particulate filters typically used to meet such standards. Heavy duty engine and vehicle manufacturers, including Nissan and Volvo, have developed heavy vehicles running on diesel engines fuelled with DME. The elimination of particulate emissions, also commonly known as soot or black smoke, is an important benefit of DME, and one directly relevant to the IARC's recent press release. As a transport fuel, when compared with petroleum-derived diesel, DME’s performance demonstrates a number of significant benefits: Ultra-low exhaust emissions Low CO₂ emissions Low engine noise High fuel economy High well-to-wheel efficiency Thermal efficiency better than diesel engine performance Ignition characteristics better than diesel engine performance A high cetane rating of 55 – 60 (compared to about 45 for petroleum-derived diesel) and a boiling point of -25ºC provide reduced ignition delay, and excellent cold starting properties – two additional key advantages for DME’s use as a diesel substitute. The IDA is the voice of the global DME industry and promotes the use of DME worldwide as a multi-source, multi-use low carbon fuel.	Volvo HD DME Truck IDA Media Release
Recommendations Issued for the Blending of DME with LPG by the IDA and the World LP Gas Association 16 November 2011 \| Niigata, Japan The IDA has issued comprehensive recommendations for the blending of DME and LPG during the 7th Asian DME Conference in Japan. The recommendations, drafted by a working group of technical experts from the IDA and the World LP Gas Association, were initially created to assist IDA members in China to better inform the government entities drafting standards in that country for such blends, but will be of interest to anyone involved in the production, commercialization, or regulation of DME/LPG blends worldwide. Recommendations for the Blending of DME with LPG
North America's First On-Road DME/Propane Fuel Demonstration Launched 12 October 2011 \| Calgary, Albert, Canada GV Energy announced the start of North America's first on-road demonstration of a vehicle running on a DME/propane blend, part of a series of on-road demonstrations of DME fueled vehicles to be conducted in Canada and the United States over the next 18 months. The world's first portable DME fueling station - built by NextGen Integrated Engineering and requiring no electrical connections to operate - is another innovation linked to the project. Modifications required for the vehicle to run on the DME/propane were done by Technocarb, a leading supplier of alternative fuel conversion systems. Link to media release	Municipal vehicle running on DME/Propane blend
New Members Reflect Industry Developments A closer look at some of the IDA's newest members and their business focus reveals the extent of interest in areas connected with DME developments worldwide. Three of the most recent companies to become members - Aygaz, Siraga, and Unitel Technologies - are all leaders in their industries with diverse specialities. The number one LPG supplier in Turkey, Aygaz supplies hundreds of thousands of homes and more than one million vehicles with LP gas. DME is often described as “synthetic LPG”, and can be blended with LPG (in a proportion of up to 20%) and used for domestic cooking and heating, without modifications to equipment or distribution networks. Growth in DME’s use for domestic applications is expected to increase sharply as DME use and blending becomes more widespread within the large, and growing, LPG market – especially in developing countries where portable (bottled) fuel is providing a safer, cleaner and more environmentally benign fuel for cooking and heating. Siraga is an international specialist designer, manufacturer, and installer of equipment for LP gas cylinder filling and manufacturing plants. Client inquiries regarding DME moved them to join the IDA in 2011, and to create materials aimed at this market niche. Unitel Technologies is a process engineering and design firm based outside Chicago with a contract for a new 300,000 TPY DME plant planned by Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS).	KOGAS 10 TPD demo unit designed by Unitel Technologies



German Ferrostaal plans to build methanol cum DME plant in West Papua 20 April 2011 \| Singapore (Platts) Germany's Ferrostaal AG plans to begin construction of a $900 million methanol cum dimethyl ether plant in West Papua in 2013, the company confirmed late Tuesday. Indonesian news reports said that Ferrostaal will invest $900 million to build the plant, which will have a design capacity of 1 million mt/year of methanol and 200,000 mt/year of DME, and begin operations in 2016. "We confirm that we are interested in producing methanol and dimethyl ether in West Papua. Nevertheless, this depends on the allotment of a requested gas allocation, which needs to be approved by the relevant Indonesian authorities," the company told Platts. The plant intends to obtain its gas feedstock from the Tangguh LNG plant. The Tangguh LNG project, which is located in Bintuni Bay of Indonesia's far eastern Papua province, comprises two trains with a design capacity of 7.6 million mt/year. BP has a 37.16% stake in Tangguh LNG. The other stake holders are China's CNOOC (13.90%), Japanese joint venture MI Berau (16.30%), Japan's JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration (12.23%), Japanese venture KG Companies (10%), LNG Japan (7.35%) and Canada's Talisman (3.06%). Link to article
Korea Gas Corporation to Build a 300,000 Tons Per Year DME Plant 9 February 2011 \| Mt. Prospect, Illinois (Unitel Technologies) Unitel Technologies has announced that the company has been awarded a contract by Korea Gas Technology Corporation to prepare the basic engineering and design package for a plant that will make 300,000 tons of DME per year. “We are pleased that Korea Gas (KOGAS) has chosen Unitel for the front-end technical work for this landmark project,” says Dr. Ravi Randhava, President and COO of Unitel. “Today DME is manufactured by a cumbersome ‘two step’ process. KOGAS is the first organization in the world to successfully develop and demonstrate a commercially viable ‘one step’ process,” he adds. DME is an ideal one-to-one substitute and additive for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). It is also a direct replacement for diesel, with the added advantage that DME is 100% clean in terms of sulfur, soot and particulates, and the exhaust is approximately 50% lower in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. According to General Electric, DME is an excellent fuel for stationary gas turbines. Many experts view DME as the most promising fuel option for the 21st century. The KOGAS DME Project Team is led by Dr. Wonjun Cho who notes that the KOGAS ‘one step’ process includes several proprietary technology breakthroughs – a novel catalyst, an oxyblown auto-thermal tri-reformer for making synthesis gas, fixed bed boiling water DME reactors, and a special method for the cryogenic separation of the reaction products. “The ‘one step’ DME process has proven to be very elusive for many years,” notes Dr. Cho. “However, we are convinced that KOGAS has successfully overcome the hurdles that have long constrained this industry.” “We have operated a ‘one step’ 10 tons per day demo unit for the last three years, and the results are very encouraging,” says Dr. Cho. “The ‘one step’ method needs only a single reactor for the synthesis of DME, and alleviates the thermodynamic limitations of producing the methanol that is made in the ‘two step’ process,” he explains. The basic engineering and design work for the KOGAS ‘one step’ demo unit was also provided by Unitel Technologies. Link to media release











Mitsubishi Announces DME Plant in Iceland 20 September 2010 \| Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) has announced a project to build a DME plant in Iceland by 2014. The project, being done in cooperation with the Icelandic government, is estimated to cost approximately ISK 58 billion (USD 495 million / EUR 278 million) and has not yet been fully financed. It is understood that the DME will be produced in Grundartangi from methanol created by mixing CO2 captured from the exhaust gas of the Elkem Iceland ferrosilicon plant with hydrogen extracted from water by electrolysis.

Oil and Gas Consortium Announces DME Plant in Vietnam 18 March, Hanoi \| Construction of a DME plant in Vietnam is one of the first projects announced by the country's first private oil and gas consortium, Sao Nam Petro. The consortium, recently established with the participation of DSME (South Korea), AGR (Norway), Longbeach Oil and Otto Energy (Australia), also announced plans to engage in projects in Vietnam's offshore oilfields. Link to article