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Dehydrogenation of propane using a packed‐bed catalytic membrane reactor
Author(s) -
Weyten Herman,
Keizer Klaas,
Kinoo Annemieke,
Luyten Jan,
Leysen Roger
Publication year - 1997
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.690430717
Subject(s) - dehydrogenation , propene , membrane reactor , propane , chemistry , catalysis , packed bed , yield (engineering) , membrane , chemical engineering , plug flow , microreactor , chromatography , organic chemistry , thermodynamics , materials science , composite material , biochemistry , physics , engineering
In a high‐temperature catalytic membrane reactor, a plug‐flow reactor is combined with a gas‐separative membrane. By selectively removing one of the reaction products, the reaction mixture is prevented from reaching equilibrium, and a higher conversion can be obtained. This concept is only valid for reactions that are limited by the thermodynamic equilibrium, such as the direct dehydrogenation of propane to propene. A tubular H 2 ‐selective silica membrane was characterized [αH 2 /C 3 H 8 = 70–90 at 500°C] and used as the gas‐separative membrane. The membrane reactor was filled with a chromia/alumina catalyst. The kinetics of the catalyst was studied. At 500°C the deactivation of the catalyst is slow, and the propene yield is almost constant for at least 10 h of operation. Under well‐chosen process conditions, the propene yield is at least twice as high as the value obtained at thermodynamic equilibrium in a conventional reactor.