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1 INTRODUCTION

ong term Energy Security of the country is of utmost importance for any nation.
Since methanol can be produced from renewable resources including municipal &
Lagricultural waste, unlike fossil based transportation fuel, present initiative, in the
context of energy security assumes significance.

This report proposes that both methanol and DME (Di-Methyl Ether) have potential to
replace fossil fuels for energy storage and transportation. Both methanol and DME also
provide the opportunity to fix carbon dioxide, provided hydrogen is produced without
carbon footprint.
The replacement of fossil based transportation fuels is also important to prevent carbon
dioxide emission. Methanol/DME when produced from biomass has a lower carbon
emission than conventional fossil fuels. If merely 5% of conventional diesel/gasoline is
replaced with these alternative fuels, Green House Gas (GHG) emissions could be reduced
significantly [1].

This report also surveys established and emerging technologies for biomass gasification
and syngas conversion to methanol and DME. A road map is also drawn for India to usher
these new fuels with the prime objective to reduce the carbon foot print or Well to Wheel
GHG emission.

1.1 CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF METHANOL & DME

Although both methanol and DME have several common features, they have some major
differences in their physical characteristics as well as in their properties as alternative
transportation fuels.
Both methanol and DME are simple forms of hydrocarbon containing oxygen. Methanol is
completely miscible with water while DME has limited solubility, due to the difference in polarity.
The main difference in physical properties is in the boiling points. DME boils at -24.9°C while
methanol’s boiling point is about 65°C. Therefore, at ambient temperature methanol is a liquid
while DME is a gas.
The physical properties of methanol and DME are summarized in Table 1 & 1A:

As regards combustion characteristics, both of them burn with blue flame without any smoke.
The net calorific value for DME is higher than methanol (31.7 vs. 22.9 MJ/Kg. HHV), therefore
the energy produced per unit volume is about 30% higher for DME. Methanol has a very high
octane number (Anti Knock Index of 98.65) so it can be added into gasoline to augment its
octane number. Due to their different burning characteristics, methanol is suitable as additive

14 Methanol and DME Production: Survey and Roadmap | 2017