The Korean customer developed a proprietary catalyst and process for the direct synthesis of DME from natural gas. Before going commercial, the customer needed to build and operate a demo plant (10 tons per day) to prove the efficacy of this technology and retained Unitel to generate the conceptual, basic and detailed engineering and design packages. The process includes an oxyblown auto-thermal reformer for making synthesis gas, fixed bed boiling water type DME reactors and cryogenic separation of reactants.
The development program proved successful and has enabled the company to commit to a 900 tons/day commercial project, which was also engineered by Unitel Technologies.
