DME and LPG AEGPL Conference Nice 6-8 June 2007 F. Bollon
DME and LPG DME Reminder Specifications Production Utilizations DME and XTL competitors DME (as fuel) is at the gates of Europe DME/LPG blends: already a reality in China DME standardization issues 2 AEGPL Conference Nice 6-8 June 2007 F. Bollon
DME (Dimethyl Ether) specifications on net calorific value basis 1.6 kg of DME is equivalent to 1 kg of LPG 1.25 m 3 of DME is equivalent to 1 m 3 of LPG 1.2 m 3 of DME is equivalent to 1 m 3 of diesel Property Methane Propane DME Butane Diesel oil Chemical formula CH 4 C 3 H 8 CH 3 OCH 3 C 4 H 10 - Boiling point ( C) -161.5-42.0-25.1-0.5 180-360 Liquid Density (g/cm3, 20 C) - 0.49 0.67 0.57 0.84 Specific gravity of gas (vs. air) 0.55 1.52 1.59 2.00 - Saturated vapor pressure (atm, 25 C) - 9.3 6.1 2.4 - Ignition point ( C) 650 470 235 430 250 Explosion limit (%) 5-15 2.1-9.4 3.4-17 1.9-8.4 0.6-7.5 Cetane number 0 5 55-60 10 40-55 Net calorific value (kcal/kg) 12 11,1 6,9 10,93 10,2 Net calorific value (kcal/l) liquid - 5,4 4,6 6,2-8,6 Net calorific value (kcal/nm3) 8,6 21,8 14,2 28,3-3 AEGPL Conference Nice 6-8 June 2007 F. Bollon
DME: an environmentally-friendly fuel Completely safe with no adverse impact on health Decomposes in the atmosphere in several tens of hours No sulfur content No direct carbon bonds (CH 3 -O-CH 3 ) No problems expanding use No concern over ozone layer depletion (alternative to CFCs) No SOx emission from combustion No particulate matter (PM) or soot emission from combustion DME is a clean burning alternative to LPG and diesel. 4 AEGPL Conference Nice 6-8 June 2007 F. Bollon
DME: An energy carrier for a sustainable development PRIMARY ENERGY SOURCE CONVERSION SYNTHETIC LIQUID FUEL TRANSPORT COMMERCIAL USE Natural Gas Transportation fuel Coal Heavy oil Synthesis Gas DME Transport to Markets Domestic LPG users Power Generation Chemical Feedstock Bio Mass Fuel cells 5 AEGPL Conference Nice 6-8 June 2007 F. Bollon
DME Production DME can be produced by methanol dehydration direct synthesis DME production capacities (end 2006) Already installed 440 kt/a Under construction 2,150 kt/a Announcement 6,800 to 14,500 kt/a Expected DME market in 2020: For China: 20 MT For Japan: 6 MT 6 AEGPL Conference Nice 6-8 June 2007 F. Bollon
DME capacities in China (installed and expected) Cumulated DME capacity in China 9000 8355 8000 7000 6000 5000 4000 4155 3000 2000 1000 0 1555 935 40 155 275 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 year Thousands MT/yr 7 AEGPL Conference Nice 6-8 June 2007 F. Bollon
DME utilizations 2nd DME Market 1st DME Market 8 AEGPL Conference Nice 6-8 June 2007 F. Bollon
DME and other X-to-liquids competition DME is the simpliest XTL product and one of the most promising XTL way GTL GTDME CTL CTDME BTL Capital Intensity (K$/bbl/d(*)) (K$/bbl/d) Yield (HHV) CO2 (TCo2 emitted/tep of Product) Concawe Report Conv. Diesel 70 à 100 ε 45 à 85 80 à 120 50 à 85 >180 55% 65% 46% à 52% 44% à 54% 40% 1,2 0,7 4,5 à 5 4 à 4,5 ε Yield WTW (MJ/100Km) GHG g CO2eq/Km 200 290 265 340 330 330 à 380 150 170 150 350 340 10 à 15 9 AEGPL Conference Nice 6-8 June 2007 F. Bollon
DME and XTL Competitors (TTW) (Tank-to-Wheels analysis) The "best in class" is obtained from DME with an adapted Diesel engine, with 126.8 g CO 2eq /km 10 AEGPL Conference Nice 6-8 June 2007 F. Bollon Source: Tank-to-Wheels report March 2007 Concawe Eucar
DME at the gates of Europe China is building new capacities of DME and already using it mixed with LPG. This DME is mainly produced from methanol (made from coal) or from imported methanol A Japanese consortium (Total 10%) is on the way to build a DME plant in Niigata made from ex-gas methanol Korea has made some laboratory tests on DME India is checking DME for LPG/DME blends Egypt with Methanex is planning to build a DME plant Iran planned to build a DME plant in the South of Iran Turkey and Russia are working on DME Sweden is working on DME from biomass 11 AEGPL Conference Nice 6-8 June 2007 F. Bollon
DME/LPG properties Evaluation tests conducted by Japan LPG Center for some LPG appliances: Combustion characteristics Operating performance of burner safety device According to Japan LPG Center and for cooking appliances, the upper limit for DME in the DME/LPG mixture is assumed to be about 20% to 25% wt DME (without appliances modifications) Totalgaz is currently testing DME/LPG blends to verify those announcements 12 AEGPL Conference Nice 6-8 June 2007 F. Bollon
DME/LPG blends properties DME/LPG blends with 20 to 30% weight DME Compatible with most of the metals Compatible with some polymers but not all the ones used for LPG (these polymers are mainly used for the seals of LPG equipment) Stable in motionless conditions Combustion possible with some LPG burners but with a scale-downed efficiency Some problem of combustion of the residue remaining in cylinders with some DME/LPG blends 13 AEGPL Conference Nice 6-8 June 2007 F. Bollon
DME/LPG blends properties According to the Chinese producers replacing 1 kg of LPG by 1 kg of DME does not change significantly the duration for boiling 1 liter of water The cost of DME could be reduced dramatically by the scale-up of the capacity of DME plant But the price of methanol can be a limitation to the reduction of the production cost of DME 14 AEGPL Conference Nice 6-8 June 2007 F. Bollon
DME as alternative to diesel Test runs of DME trucks and buses in Japan 10 buses using DME in Shanghai from 8 May 2007 1,000 buses using DME in Shanghai in 2008? Volvo trucks / Nissan Diesel Isuzu (subsidiary of Toyota) 15 AEGPL Conference Nice 6-8 June 2007 F. Bollon
DME standardization The increase of DME as fuels in China, Japan and progressively in some other countries implies some international standards in order to ensure a global openness and transparency in the international commerce of DME The Technical Committee on Chemical Products of the Japan Industrial Standards Committee has already established a tentative standard for DME as fuel under the number TS K 0011 in 2005. But this Committee agreed that DME as alternative to diesel and DME as alternative to LPG may have separate technical specification and that the TS K 0011 is mainly a proposal for DME as diesel. 16 AEGPL Conference Nice 6-8 June 2007 F. Bollon
DME standardization China is working on some standards for pure DME and will issue some national standards soon IDA (International DME Association) has established a DME standardization group for following up the standardization prepared by other groups ISO/TC28 will start soon a DME working group about DME specification 17 AEGPL Conference Nice 6-8 June 2007 F. Bollon
Total is also involved in a commercial plant in Japan the Niigata project Project : Build a plant producing 80 kt/y DME from imported methanol through dehydration process, in MGC s existing plant. Participants are Japan DME group (MGC, Itochu, JGC, MHI) and other Japanese companies (Japex, Toyota Tsusho, Taiyo oil and Mitsubishi Chemical) Total s participation is 10% through Total DME Japan KK Starting-up in mid 2008 Japan Niigata Sea of Japan Tokyo Pacific Ocean Objective : Promote and develop the use of DME for : LPG or Distillate substitutes in Industry Diesel Transport Fuel (Heavy - Duty Trucks, Bus and small Trucks, Fleets) Diesel Power Generation systems 18 AEGPL Conference Nice 6-8 June 2007 F. Bollon
Information about DME International DME Association (IDA): www.aboutdme.org DME Handbook issued by Japan DME Forum (available in English in October 2007) Japan DME Forum Korean DME Forum 19 AEGPL Conference Nice 6-8 June 2007 F. Bollon
20 AEGPL Conference Nice 6-8 June 2007 F. Bollon