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Recent Progress in the Production, Application
and Evaluation of Oxymethylene Ethers
Kathrin Hackbarth, Philipp Haltenort, Ulrich Arnold*, and Jörg Sauer
DOI: 10.1002/cite.201800068
Dedicated to Prof. Dr.-Ing. Gerhard Emig on the occasion of his 80th birthday
To counteract greenhouse gas and other harmful emissions, ambitious regulatory measures with respect to energy generation, supply and consumption have been set. In the fuel sector, successive substitution of common fossil fuels by non-fossil
ones is a promising option to meet the respective demands. Regarding diesel fuels, the use of oxymethylene ethers (OMEs)
has been proposed. Especially OMEs of the type CH3O(CH2O)nCH3 (n = 3 – 5) exhibit properties that are similar to common diesel fuel and formation of soot and NOx is drastically reduced during combustion. Within this work, recent progress regarding production, application and evaluation of OMEs is summarized and discussed.
Keywords: CO2 emissions, Diesel fuels, Non-fossil fuels, Oxymethylene ethers
Received: June 06, 2018; revised: July 06, 2018; accepted: July 10, 2018
1
Introduction
From a global point of view, energy generation, supply and
consumption are steadily increasing. Transportation is one
of the most energy-demanding sectors, and recent forecasts
predict an increase of 30 % for the global transport-related
energy demand until 2040 [1]. By expecting versatile mobility technologies for the next decades, combustion engines
will still play an important role, especially in the case of
innovative fuel concepts [2]. To reduce greenhouse gas and
other harmful emissions, fossil feedstocks have to be
replaced by renewable ones and competition with other
markets, especially the nutrition sector, should be avoided.
Furthermore, the share of renewable energies has to be
extended and several other criteria have to be met, e.g., efficient production with a minimum of by-products, health
and safety aspects, compatibility with materials, engines
and infrastructures, stability, performance as well as combustion characteristics.
Regarding diesel fuels, the use of so-called oxymethylene
ethers (OMEs) attracted considerable interest in recent
years [3]. Especially OMEs of the type CH3O(CH2O)nCH3
(OMEn) with n = 3 – 5 exhibit properties which are similar
to conventional diesel fuels but, in contrast, formation of
soot and NOx is drastically reduced during combustion [4].
Furthermore, OMEs can be produced from renewable resources via methanol and, thus, overall CO2 emissions can
also be reduced [5].
Concerning OMEs, several research projects have been
initiated recently, e.g., the joint research project Oxymethylene ethers (OME): Eco-friendly diesel additives from renewables funded by Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e.V.
and the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture
Chem. Ing. Tech. 2018, 90, No. 10, 1–10
[6], the Kopernikus project Power-to-X (P2X, research cluster FC-B3: Oxymethylene ethers: Fuels and plastics based on
CO2 and hydrogen) and the Carbon2Chem project (subproject L6 on OMEs), both funded by the German Ministry
of Education and Research [7, 8] as well as the xME-Diesel
project (xME-Diesel – (Bio-)Methyl ethers as alternative fuels
for the bivalent Diesel operation) which is funded by the
Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy [9].
In 2017, Baranowski et al. published a comprehensive
review on OME synthesis [10] which covers activities in this
rapidly developing research field and supplements earlier
published information, by considering different synthesis
routes, catalysts, reaction mechanisms and properties of
OMEs. Another review, published by Bhatelia et al.,
addresses OME production processes, Chinese activities in
this field as well as fuel and combustion aspects [11]. Within this work, these reviews are supplemented by very recent
progress regarding production, application and evaluation
of OMEs. Since OME1 (dimethoxymethane DMM, also
called methylal) is already well-established and widely used
as a solvent [2, 3, 10, 11], this work concentrates on the
development of higher OMEs, especially OME3, OME4 and
OME5 which are significantly less explored compared to
OME1. A focus is laid on improved synthesis procedures,
recent patents, OME production plants, fuel and non-fuel
–
Kathrin Hackbarth, Philipp Haltenort, Dr. Ulrich Arnold, Prof.
Dr.-Ing. Jörg Sauer
ulrich.arnold@kit.edu
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute of Catalysis
Research and Technology (IKFT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz
1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany.
ª 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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applications as well as evaluation, e.g., by investigating combustion kinetics, thermodynamic fundamentals of OME
production and techno-economic or life-cycle assessment.
Part of this work has been carried out relating to the
Carbon2Chem project which concentrates on the use of
off-gases from steel production as a feedstock for the synthesis of chemicals and fuels.
2
Recent Progress in OME Production
2.1 Synthesis Pathways
Regarding OME synthesis, one can distinguish between
anhydrous reaction systems and aqueous systems (Fig. 1).
The anhydrous systems usually start from dimethoxymethane (DMM = OME1) which is reacted with trioxane [12].
The production of both compounds from methanol and
formaldehyde is well-established [2, 3, 10, 11] and advantages of this strategy are a high OME selectivity, low
amounts of by-products and a comparatively simple product separation, usually by distillation [10, 11, 13]. This pathway is highly optimized now and, by using dry starting materials and a zeolite catalyst, reactions can be completed
within a few minutes at room temperature [14]. The
formation of by-products can be fully eliminated and the
OME1 – 5 content in the product mixtures is typically
around 70 %. By employing this synthesis procedure and
using an excess of DMM, the preparation of high purity
OME2 succeeded. In previous studies, the contamination of
OME2 with residual trioxane, even after careful rectification, has been a major obstacle. This could now be overcome and OME2 with a purity > 99.9 wt % could be
obtained and extensively characterized [15].
A major drawback of the anhydrous reaction systems is
the use of costly starting materials which have to be prepared in several steps from methanol and formaldehyde.
Thus, current developments concentrate on OME synthesis
directly from methanol and formaldehyde [10, 11]. Employing this pathway, several by-products, in particular hemiacetals due to incomplete acetalization, and water, stemming
from acetalization reactions, are formed which must be separated from the reaction mixtures. Compared to DMM/
trioxane-based reaction systems, OME yields are signifi-
Anhydrous pathways
Dimethoxymethane
DMM
O
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cantly lower and OME1 – 5 contents in the product mixtures
are typically around 35 %. Nonetheless, significant progress
has been made very recently in addressing these challenges.
As an example, a novel process has been designed by
Schmitz et al. which includes a significantly improved distillation procedure [16] and extraction has been proposed for
the work-up of aqueous OME mixtures by Oestreich et al.
[17, 18].
Compared to reactions starting from DMM or methanol,
OME synthesis from dimethyl ether (DME) is much less
explored and recent investigations focused on the oxidation
of DME [2, 10, 11, 19, 20]. Alternatively, DME can be converted to OMEs employing formaldehyde sources. This enables OME production in an anhydrous reaction system (see
Fig. 1) with all the benefits mentioned above, provided that
dry formaldehyde sources are used. Very recently, it could
be shown that zeolite H-BEA 25 catalyzes the reaction of
DME with trioxane in liquid phase, even under mild reaction conditions [21]. Compared to other synthesis procedures, the reaction rate is low and this enables a kinetic control of selectivity. After a reaction time of 16 h a maximum
for OME3 has been observed which indicates a direct insertion of trioxane into DME. This is in accordance with earlier experimental and theoretical findings in the case of
DMM/trioxane-based reaction systems [22]. Due to secondary reactions, especially transacetalization reactions, this
maximum is shifted to OME2 after 24 h and subsequently
the product spectrum is dominated by short-chain OMEs.
2.2 Recent Patents on OME Production
World-wide activities in the field of OMEs, especially regarding OME production, are strongly increasing and this is
reflected in the rapidly increasing number of scientific publications and patents (Fig. 2). Until 2010, several patents have
been filed, mainly from the companies BP and BASF [23, 24].
From 2009 on, the number of publications from China is
steadily increasing and, regarding patents, Chinese patent
applications are dominating. These have been analyzed comprehensively and some selected topics together with the corresponding patents are discussed in the following.
Starting from some well-known technologies for the generation of anhydrous formaldehyde [25, 26], strategies for
Aqueous pathways
O
Methanol
OMEn
O
OMEn
Dimethyl ether
O
DME
O
O
O
n
n
Formaldehyde
O
Trioxane
O
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O
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Figure 1. Synthesis
pathways for OMEs.
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[34]. Local media reported on construction [35],
production activities [36], plant commissioning
[37, 38] and environmental assessments [39, 40]
related to these OME plants.
The capacities range from 1 up to 400 kta–1
(Tab. 1). Regarding the starting materials, some
procedures start directly from methanol but
most of the processes are based on DMM which
is converted to OMEs employing different formaldehyde sources like trioxane or p-formaldehyde [34]. The use of gaseous formaldehyde was
reported for activities in collaboration with
Jiangsu Kaimao Chemical Technology Co., Ltd
[34, 41], according to recent patents filed by this
company [27, 28].
Regarding catalysts, acidic resins, especially
polymeric cation exchange resins, are usually
employed. These are cost-effective and exhibit
Figure 2. Publications and patents on OMEs (SciFinder search for CAS numbers
of OME2 – OME6, 05/04/2018).
high activity as well as long-term stability. Acidic
ionic liquids can also be used [34]. In all cases,
quantitative separation of the acidic catalysts from the
the dewatering of formalin by acetalization-deacetalization
product mixtures is crucial to avoid secondary reactions
have been further developed. As an example, the Chinese
during downstream processing and product work-up.
company Jiangsu Kaimao Chemical Technology Co., Ltd,
OMEs are already available on the Chinese market and in
one of the world-wide leading suppliers of formaldehyde
some cases OME costs have been communicated to be
plants, filed several patents on the production of anhydrous
around RMB 5000 (~ $ 750) per ton [34]. Furthermore, an
formaldehyde gas by acetalization with different alcohols
industrial platform has been established to promote OME
such as isobutanol, 4-methylpentan-2-ol or cyclohexanol,
activities [42].
followed by phase separation and acetal splitting [27, 28].
The same company claims OME production from thus produced formaldehyde and DMM with improvements, e.g., in
terms of deacidification and the separation of methyl for2.4 Synthesis of OMEs from Alternative Carbon
mate [29, 30]. In another process variant, OME2 is used as a
Resources
solvent for dry formaldehyde and OME3 – 5 mixtures are
produced by reactions of such solutions with DMM [31]. It
As already stated above, OMEs must be produced from
is claimed that formation of higher OMEs can be facilitated
non-fossil carbon resources to reduce not only the formaby employing such mixtures. A process chain which starts
tion of soot and NOx but also overall CO2 emissions. Since
from DMM and gaseous formaldehyde and which includes
all common OME synthesis pathways are based on methaan extraction step has also been described in the patent litnol or methanol derivatives (Fig. 1), availability of green
erature [32]. The desired OMEs are separated from the
methanol in sufficient quantities and produced from renewreaction mixtures via extraction and the extractant is
able resources is decisive [43, 44]. Methanol is usually prorecycled via distillation. Thus, the boiling range of the
duced from synthesis gas which is obtained by reforming of
extractant determines the oligomer distribution in the prodfossil natural gas [45, 46]. Thus, natural gas-derived syntheuct stream. Regarding integrated procedures with a minisis gas has to be replaced by synthesis gas stemming from
mum of process steps, hemiacetal production from metharenewables. In principle, two strategies can be employed for
nol and formaldehyde has been described by combining
this purpose (Fig. 3): The generation of synthesis gas from
methanol oxidation, removal of water from the resulting
renewable resources employing pyrolysis and/or gasification
methanol-formaldehyde mixtures and acetalization [33].
technologies [47, 48], or the reduction of CO2 via the
Thus, hemiacetal solutions in methanol are obtained which
reverse water-gas shift reaction [49]. The former strategy
can be further converted to OMEs.
usually yields CO-rich synthesis gases which need additional hydrogen, e.g., from hydrogen enrichment via the watergas shift reaction [47]. The latter strategy also requires
2.3 OME Production Plants
hydrogen, preferably renewable hydrogen, e.g., from water
electrolysis [50, 51]. Thus, availability of renewable hydroConcerning OME production plants, various activities are
gen produced by means of renewable energy is essential and
running in China. A review which has been published in
this approach is part of several PtX processes which are cur2016 summarizes information on current production sites
rently developed [52]. In this context, efficient production
Chem. Ing. Tech. 2018, 90, No. 10, 1–10
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Table 1. Overview of Chinese OME production plants.
Company, Partner
Location
Start-up
Capacity [kt a–1]
Starting materials
Catalyst
Ref.
Shandong Chenxin, Lanzhou Insitute of
Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of
Sciences
Heze
2013/07
10
methanol, trioxane
ionic liquid
[34, 36]
Dongying Runcheng, China University of
Petroleum
Dongying
2014/11
30
DMM, p-formaldehyde
acidic resin
[34, 37, 42]
Shandong Yuhuang, Tsinghua University
Heze
2014/06
10
DMM, p-formaldehyde
acidic resin
[34, 39]
Beijing Risun, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese
Academy of Sciences
Xingtai
2014
1
DMM, p-formaldehyde
acidic resin
[34]
2013/12
1
n.s.a
n.s.
[34, 38]
2013/12
b
400
DMM, p-formaldehyde
n.s.
[34, 35]
2014/02
b
120
n.s.
n.s.
[34]
b
40 – 50
DMM, formaldehyde gas
acidic resin
[34, 40]
40
DMM, formaldehyde gas
acidic resin
[41]
Sichuan Daxin, China University of Petroleum Dazhou
Henan Yijianeng
Yima
Tianxing
Bazhou
Baoji Zhengyuan, Jiangsu Kaimao Chemical
Technology Co., Ltd
Baoji
2015/04
Zibo Jinchang, Jiangsu Kaimao Chemical
Technology Co., Ltd
Zibo
2013/10
a) n.s. = not specified; b) start of construction.
of formaldehyde, ideally by dehydrogenation of methanol,
is a major challenge. Production of methanol from CO2
does not necessarily include the production and isolation of
synthesis gas and remarkable progress has been made in
recent years regarding integrated procedures which lead
almost directly from CO2 to methanol, requiring a minimum of process steps [53 – 56]. Concerning alternative carbon sources, gas mixtures can also be employed and the use
of off-gases from steel production is considered within the
above-mentioned Carbon2Chem project. Availability of
sufficient quantities as well as synthesis gas conditioning, to
adjust the required feed quality, must be taken into account
to enable economic and sustainable production.
Recently, the synthesis of DMM from CO2, H2 and methanol has been reported in a homogeneously catalyzed onestep procedure [57]. The catalyst system comprised a ruthenium complex for hydrogenation and an aluminum-based
Lewis acid. Other dialkoxymethanes could also be obtained
by variation of the alcohol. In a subsequent study, it was
shown that non-precious transition metal systems based on
cobalt can also be used to catalyze this reaction [58]. These
findings contribute to a better understanding of the catalysts and the underlying reaction mechanisms but scale-up
Biomass, residues, wastes ...
for the production of significant quantities is a major challenge.
3
Applications of OMEs
3.1 Application of OMEs as Diesel Fuels
As already mentioned, the OME3 – 5 fraction exhibits physico-chemical and combustion characteristics similar to conventional diesel fuels [15, 59, 60]. Important parameters are
density, melting and boiling point or range, heating values,
autoignition and flash point, cetane number, lubricity, viscosity or surface tension, to name just a few. Nevertheless,
safety, compatibility and stability criteria must also be complied and these are currently investigated in detail.
In the light of favorable fuel properties, a series of engine
tests has been carried out. OME-diesel blends as well as
pure OMEs have been employed. Regarding diesel blends, it
is well-known that soot formation can be efficiently suppressed by oxygen-containing components, so-called oxygenate fuels [61, 62]. Within an early study, the potential of
DMM has been demonstrated [63] and shortly after, results
Pyrolysis / Gasification
Synthesis gas
Renewable hydrogen
Catalyst
(CO/H2)
Methanol
Reduction
Figure 3. Production of
methanol from non-fossil
resources.
CO2
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obtained with OME3,4 as well as OME3 – 5 mixtures have
been reported [64, 65]. In a systematic study carried out by
Härtl et al., the use of different oxygen-containing compounds has been comprehensively investigated [66]. The
oxygenate fuels have been compared and DMM showed an
outstanding performance, not only regarding soot but also
NOx emissions. In the following, several studies have been
published addressing the influence of different fuel-related
parameters like the compositions of OME mixtures and
OME-diesel blends, compatibility with other fuel components or stability of the blends. Engine-related parameters
like different engine types and operating conditions or compatibility with materials, e.g., sealants, have also been considered [63, 67 – 70].
Regarding the combustion behavior of pure OMEs, OME
mixtures such as OME3 – 5 as well as pure OMEs with uniform chain length have been investigated [63, 65]. By
excluding conventional diesel fuel, formation of particulate
matter and NOx can be suppressed almost completely
which enables to overcome the soot-NOx trade-off
[71 – 73]. The use of pure OMEs is currently compared to
the use of OME-diesel blends. Employing pure OMEs is
certainly desirable with respect to emissions, but OMEdiesel blends offer all the advantages associated with dropin strategies, especially a smooth adaption to engines and
already existing infrastructures.
3.2 Alternative Applications of OMEs
In general, OME activities concentrate on applications in
the field of diesel fuels. However, some other fuel applications have also been envisaged. Due to the comparatively
low cetane number of 28 for DMM [15, 60], the ignition
behavior of DMM-gasoline blends has been investigated in
two different modes, namely spark and corona ignition
[74]. Combustion has been analyzed by monitoring OH*
chemiluminescence through a high-speed optical camera.
Regarding fuel cells, several studies on the use of OMEs in
direct oxidation fuel cells have been carried out [75 – 78].
Major objective in this field is the substitution of methanol
by non-toxic compounds that can easily be hydrolyzed and
oxidized with a minimum of by-products. Due to the comparatively high hydrogen content of the short-chain oligomer DMM, it has been considered as a hydrogen storage
compound for small hydrogen quantities. It can be catalytically hydrolyzed to methanol and formaldehyde and subsequently reformed to H2 and CO2 [79]. Furthermore, nonfuel applications are also considered like the development
of plastics containing OME-like building blocks [7], the use
of OMEs as synthesis building blocks [80] or the use of
OME2 and OME3 as electrolytes for batteries [81 – 83].
While OME1 is already widely used as a solvent, applications of higher OMEs as solvents have also been proposed,
e.g., for the production of hydrogen peroxide [84] and as
absorption media for CO2 [85, 86].
Chem. Ing. Tech. 2018, 90, No. 10, 1–10
4
Evaluation of OME Fuels
Based on the preliminary experiences made with OMEs,
first evaluation studies have been carried out, e.g., regarding
combustion kinetics [87, 88], production costs [89, 90]
and thermodynamic fundamentals of OME production
[91 – 94]. Furthermore, first techno-economic as well as
life-cycle assessments have been reported [90, 95, 96].
With respect to combustion kinetics, two studies on the
low- and intermediate temperature combustion of OMEs
have been published very recently [87, 88]. The pyrolysis
and combustion of DMM has been studied theoretically by
implementing ab initio-calculated thermodynamic properties for important species and experimentally by employing
an isothermal jet-stirred reactor. Sensitivity analyses showed
a good agreement between the model and the measured
data. In the second study, DMM has been investigated first
and the resulting model has been extended to OME3. The
mechanism has been validated experimentally using a rapid
compression machine and a homogeneous charge compression ignition research engine. The model enables predictions of combustion as well as emission characteristics and
could also be used for simulating the combustion of similar
oxygenate fuels.
Regarding OME production costs, an estimation has been
carried out for the production from DMM and trioxane
which is highly developed [89]. The costs are largely dependent on the methanol price and assuming a methanol price
of 300 $ t–1 and a capacity of 1 Mio. t a–1 for an OME3 – 5
mixture results in total production costs of about 615 $ t–1
for OME3 – 5.
In the PtX context, feasibility of OME synthesis from
CO2 and H2 has been analyzed by means of the underlying
thermodynamics and the most favorable pathways have
been outlined [91 – 93]. Sustainable production is possible
but the concepts stand and fall with the availability of
renewable energy.
A thermodynamic analysis of OME production from biomass and the development of an optimized process design
have been carried out [94, 97]. The entire process chain has
been considered, i.e., gasification of woody biomass and
generation of synthesis gas, methanol and formaldehyde
production and finally OME synthesis. Based on these data,
a techno-economic model has been developed and production costs have been estimated for different biomass types
[90].
These studies have been further refined and a life-cycle
assessment on the process chain has been reported [95]. In
another life-cycle assessment, OME production from CO2
has been considered [96]. Within a comprehensive well-towheel analysis it has been shown that DMM-diesel blends
containing 24 wt % of DMM can reduce the global warming
impact by 22 % and the emissions of NOx and soot by 43
and 75 %, respectively. Production of hydrogen by water
electrolysis employing electricity from wind power is a key
step of this procedure. In a very recent study, production of
ª 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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different oxygenate fuels (fatty acid methyl ester, dibutyl
ether and OMEs) has been evaluated and the advantages of
OMEs have been outlined [98].
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evaluation. One remaining major challenge is certainly production from renewable resources through a highly integrated and optimized process chain with a minimum of
process steps and employing renewable energies.
Conclusions
The use of OMEs as alternative diesel fuels offers advantages such as favorable physico-chemical properties and the
reduction of soot and NOx emissions. Overall CO2 emissions can also be reduced, provided that OMEs are produced from renewable resources combined with renewable
energy. Thus, extensive research is currently dedicated to
the development of OME fuels and this work summarizes
recent progress regarding production, application and evaluation of OMEs.
With respect to OME production, anhydrous reaction
pathways like OME synthesis from DMM and trioxane
have been optimized, but the procedures are based on costly
starting materials which have to be produced in several
reaction steps from methanol and formaldehyde. To circumvent this drawback, current activities concentrate on
direct OME synthesis from methanol and formaldehyde in
aqueous reaction systems. The work-up of thus obtained
product mixtures, especially the removal of water, could be
remarkably improved. In an alternative strategy, suitable
catalysts for the synthesis of OMEs from DME could be
identified and enable an intensive exploration of this pathway. Regarding commercial production, Chinese activities
are outstanding which is reflected in a steadily increasing
number of publications and patents. Several OME production plants have been commissioned from 2013 on and
capacities up to 400 kt a–1 have been reported.
Currently, OMEs are predominantly evaluated in the field
of diesel fuels, either as blends with conventional diesel fuel
or as pure OME fuel. The latter strategy offers ultra-low
emissions of soot and NOx and the former enables a successive adaption of engines, materials and existing infrastructures. Alternative applications have also been described,
e.g., the use of DMM blends with gasoline or the use of
OMEs as substitutes for methanol in direct oxidation fuel
cells. DMM has also been proposed as a hydrogen storage
compound. With respect to non-fuel applications, the use
of OME derivatives as building blocks for polymers is investigated and patents on the use of OMEs as electrolytes for
batteries have been filed. Another option is the use of higher
OMEs as solvents.
Since extensive datasets on OMEs are available now,
detailed evaluation of OMEs in terms of techno-economic
as well as life-cycle assessments is currently carried out.
Further current studies are concerned with health and
safety criteria, compatibility with materials, engines and
infrastructures, thermal and oxidation stability as well as
combustion kinetics.
In summary, remarkable progress has been made in the
field of OME fuels regarding production, application and
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The authors thank Dr. E. Bastiaensen and Ir. R. Kiewiet
from ChemCom Industries B.V. for supplying OMEs.
Financial support from the German Federal Ministry of
Education and Research (BMBF) within the
Carbon2Chem project is gratefully acknowledged
(project number 03EK3043D). We also thank the
partners within the L6 project from BASF SE, Linde AG,
Fraunhofer UMSICHT, the Technical University of
Kaiserslautern, thyssenkrupp and Volkswagen AG.
Kathrin Hackbarth studied
chemistry at the FriedrichAlexander University
Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU)
and the Karlsruhe Institute
of Technology (KIT). At the
KIT she did her Master’s
degree with the focus on
technical chemistry. In
March 2017 she started her
PhD in the working group
‘‘Biobased Fuels and
Materials’’ at the Institute
of Catalysis Research and Technology (IKFT/KIT). She
is working on the heterogeneously catalysed synthesis
of oxymethylene ethers from methanol.
Philipp Haltenort studied
chemical technology at
Hochschule Mannheim. He
received his Master’s degree
in process and energy
technology at Technische
Universität Kaiserslautern
(TUK) in 2015. Starting his
PhD studies, he joined the
group of Ulrich Arnold at
the Institute of Catalysis
Research and Technology
(IKFT) at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in 2016. His research focusses
on reactive system studies and process development for
the synthesis of oxymethylene dimethyl ethers.
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Ulrich Arnold is a group
leader at the Karlsruhe
Institute of Technology –
Institute of Catalysis
Research and Technology
(KIT-IKFT). He studied
Chemistry at the University
of Heidelberg and finished
his PhD in 1998. After a
postdoctoral stay at the
University of Campinas,
Brazil, he joined the Institute of Technical Chemistry
of the former Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe GmbH
and worked on the development of high-performance
materials and catalysts. Since the foundation of
KIT-IKFT in 2011, his research activities concentrate
on heterogeneous catalysis for the production of
alternative fuels.
Jörg Sauer studied chemical engineering at the Friedrich-Alexander University
Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU)
and earned his doctorate in
the group of Prof. Dr. Gerhard Emig at the University
of Karlsruhe. He began his
career in the industry at
Degussa AG, later Evonik
Industries AG, where he
worked in several management positions in research
and development, production, process technology and
engineering. In 2012, he took a professorship for Process Technology and Catalysis at the Karlsruhe Institute
of Technology (KIT). Since then, he is Managing Director of the Institute of Catalysis Research and Technology (IKFT) and speaker of the bioliq project at the KIT.
Abbreviations
DME
DMM
NOx
OME
dimethyl ether
dimethoxymethane (= OME1)
nitrogen oxides
oxymethylene dimethyl ether
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Chemie
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DOI: 10.1002/cite.201800068
Recent Progress in the Production, Application and Evaluation of
Oxymethylene Ethers
K. Hackbarth, P. Haltenort, U. Arnold*, J. Sauer
Review: Successive substitution of common fossil fuels by non-fossil ones is an indispensable strategy to counteract greenhouse gas emissions. Regarding diesel fuels, the use of
oxymethylene ethers (OMEs) of the type CH3O(CH2O)nCH3 (n = 3 – 5) has been proposed.
Within this work, recent progress regarding production, application and evaluation of
OMEs is summarized and discussed. ................................................................. XXX
www.cit-journal.com
ª 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
Chem. Ing. Tech. 2018, 90, No. 10, 1–10