Abstract: A fuel or fuel blendstock comprising ethanol, ethyl ethers, olefins, and alkanes. In some embodiments, the fuel or fuel blendstock of claim 1, wherein the fuel or fuel blendstock may have an octane number greater than 92 (RON+MON)/2). In other embodiments, the fuel or fuel blendstock may have a Reid vapor pressure less than 7.2 psi. Also disclosed is a process for the production of a fuel, the process including: contacting ethanol and at least one gasoline fraction including alkanes and olefins in the presence of a catalyst to form a fuel mixture including ethyl ethers, alkanes, unreacted olefins, and unreacted ethanol; and recovering the fuel mixture for use as a gasoline or gasoline blendstock without separation of the ethanol from the fuel mixture.

Abstract: A process for the production of dimethyl ether from a methanol reactor effluent is disclosed. The process may include: contacting an aqueous extractant comprising water and an effluent from a methanol synthesis reactor comprising methanol and one or more of methane, water, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and nitrogen. At least a portion of the methanol partitions into the aqueous extractant; recovering an extract fraction comprising the aqueous extractant and methanol. The extract fraction is fed to a catalytic distillation reactor system for concurrently: contacting the methanol with catalyst in a reaction zone thereby catalytically reacting at least a portion of the methanol to form dimethyl ether and water; and fractionating the resulting dimethyl ether and the water to recover a first overheads fraction comprising dimethyl ether and a first bottoms fraction comprising water.