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A novel inorganic hollow fiber membrane reactor for catalytic dehydrogenation of propane
Author(s) -
Wu Zhentao,
Hatim Irfan M.D.,
Kingsbury Benjamin F.K.,
Gbenedio Ejiro,
Li K.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.11864
Subject(s) - dehydrogenation , propene , propane , phase inversion , materials science , catalysis , membrane , chemical engineering , layer (electronics) , membrane reactor , hollow fiber membrane , fiber , sintering , composite number , coating , substrate (aquarium) , porosity , composite material , chemistry , organic chemistry , biochemistry , oceanography , engineering , geology
A novel inorganic hollow fiber membrane reactor (iHFMR) has been developed and applied to the catalytic dehydrogenation of propane to propene. Alumina hollow fiber substrates, prepared by a phase inversion/sintering method, possess a unique asymmetric structure that can be characterized by a very porous inner surface from which finger‐like voids extend across ∼80% of the fiber cross‐section with the remaining 20% consisting of a denser sponge‐like outer layer. In contrast to other existing Pd/Ag composite membranes, where an intermediate γ‐Al 2 O 3 layer is often used to bridge the Pd/Ag layer and the substrate, the Pd/Ag composite membrane prepared in this study was achieved by coating the Pd/Ag layer directly onto the outer surface of the asymmetric substrate. After depositing submicron‐sized Pt (0.5 wt %)/γ‐alumina catalysts in the finger‐like voids of the substrates, a highly compact multifunctional iHFMR was developed. Propane conversion as high as 42% was achieved at the initial stage of the reaction at 723 K. In addition, the space‐time yields of the iHFMR were ∼60 times higher than that of a fixed bed reactor, demonstrating advantages of using iHFMR for dehydrogenation reactions. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2009