Selective methanol-to-dimethyl ether conversion in a through-flow γ-Al2O3 catalytic membrane contactor: Performance and comparative analysis

Dimethyl ether (DME) is a clean and efficient alternative fuel and chemical intermediate, typically produced by methanol dehydration over solid acid catalysts. In this study, the catalytic performance of a γ-Al 2 O 3 membrane operated in a through-flow configuration was evaluated for DME production. The membrane exhibited high methanol conversion and complete DME selectivity (100%) over the 260–300 °C temperature range, showing optimal performance at 280°C and low WHSV (0.4 h -1 ), where equilibrium conditions are approached. Comparative tests with γ-Al 2 O 3 pellets demonstrated the membrane superior selectivity and enhanced stability with the time-on-stream. A 30-hour time-on-stream experiment showed a good resistance of membrane to deactivation, with catalytic activity fully restored through a thermal regeneration step. The γ-Al 2 O 3 membrane was further benchmarked against literature-reported ZSM-5 and BEA zeolite membranes, showing better performance in the explored operating conditions. • Catalytic γ-Al2O3 membrane contactor for MeOH conversion to DME. • Full DME selectivity in the 260–300 °C temperature range versus <90% of fixed bed reactor. • DME productivity of MR equal to 0.24 gDME h-1 gcatalyst-1 compared to 0.21 in fixed bed • Enhanced stability with respect to catalytic pellets. • Catalytic activity fully restored through a thermal regeneration step.