The effect of natural waste filter on dimethyl ether production from low calorific coal gasification

Abstract

In Indonesia, rapid population growth has increased energy demand, especially in the transportation and power generation sectors. The Indonesian government has been active in promoting the use of renewable energy, but the transition from fossil energy is still faced with various challenges, including limited technology and adequate infrastructure. Apart from that, Indonesia's large potential in coal is the main factor slowing down this energy transition. One promising alternative is to convert coal into Dimethyl Ether (DME) through the gasification process, which is a thermochemical process for converting solid fuel into gas, producing syngas containing H₂, CO, and CH₄. Synthesis purification is essential to produce high-purity DME. This process involves the use of filter materials such as zeolite and rice husk charcoal to remove contaminants such as sulfur. Zeolite, with its chemical absorption properties and regular pore structure, is effective in absorbing H₂S from syngas. Meanwhile, rice husk charcoal, which is an agricultural waste rich in silica and has a porous structure, has shown potential as an absorbent material to reduce H₂S content in gas. In research on the use of various filter material compositions in the up-draft type coal gasification process with CuO–ZnO–Al₂O₃ and ZSM-5 catalysts, it was found that a 3:7 ratio for zeolite and rice husk charcoal provided optimal performance. This ratio not only increases CH₄ and CO levels in syngas, but is also effective in reducing H₂S content. The research results showed that the highest DME production reached 90.10% at a ratio of 3:7, while at a ratio of 2:8 and 5:5, production was 81.61% and 73.64% respectively. These findings emphasize the importance of using diverse filter materials in improving syngas quality and DME synthesis efficiency, strengthening steps to accelerate the energy transition towards more sustainable solutions in Indonesia.