Pra-Prancangan Pabrik Dimetil Eter dari Metanol dengan Kapasitas 10.000 Ton/Tahun

Abstract

Indonesia is a developing country that has experienced improvements in various sectors, including the industrial sector. One industry with the potential to drive economic growth in Indonesia is the dimethyl ether (DME) industry. Dimethyl ether is a compound of the ether group with the molecular formula C2H6O. DME has various applications, including as a propellant, refrigerant, and alternative fuel. DME production can be carried out using various feedstocks such as natural gas, coal, biomass, and methanol as an intermediate raw material. In this plant design, methanol is used as the main raw material with a requirement of 13,925.0664061 tons per year. The pre-design of this DME process utilizes the methanol dehydration process. This process is carried out in a fixed bed multitube reactor with the assistance of CuHZM-5 catalyst, at a pressure of 14 atm and a temperature of 290°C. The reactor operates adiabatically, and the reaction is exothermic. The formed DME is purified using a distillation tower to produce a product with a purity of 99.84%, with a production quantity of 10,000 tons per year. This plant is planned to be built in Bontang Regency, East Kalimantan, on a 5-hectare area. The required number of employees is 170 people. The economic analysis results show a net profit of IDR. 39,297,638,217.0567 from sales. The return on investment (ROI) is 18.75 %. The payback period (POT) is 3.47 years. Thus, the break-even point (BEP) is achieved at 42.5926%. Based on these results, the dimethyl ether plant with a production capacity of 10,000 tons per year is feasible to be constructed.