Performance assessment of a new solar energy based cogeneration system for dimethyl-ether and electricity production

A novel renewable energy based integrated system for dimethyl-ether (DME) production and electricity generation is proposed, analyzed thermodynamically and evaluated energetically and exergetically. The DME is produced in a unique way through carbon hydrogenation process to produce pure methanol, and then DME is synthesized from methanol through methanol dehydration process. The hydrogen required for the process is produced using solid oxide steam electrolyzer (SOSE) which is powered by the thermal energy provided by solar heliostat field to generate steam and generate electricity through a steam turbine. The carbon dioxide is captured from steel furnace exhaust gas using chemical absorption method. The present system is modeled and simulated using both Aspen plus process simulation software and Engineering Equation Solver (EES), and assessed according to energy and exergy performance evaluations. The overall system energy and exergy efficiencies are then found to be 28.75% and 32.54% respectively.