Isobutane dehydrogenation in a membrane reactor

Nanocomposite MFI-alumina and FAU-alumina Membranes: Synthesis, Characterization and Application to Paraffin Separation and CO2Capture

“…Nanocomposite MFI-alumina membranes have shown their potentials in several gas and vapour separations (e.g., xylene isomer separation [25,26] and ammonia recovery [27]), and combined with a catalyst in membrane reactors (e.g., i-butane dehydrogenation [28,29] and xylene isomerization [25]). Besides, this nanocomposite configuration has also been applied to the synthesis of other membrane materials, such as Pd-ceramic [30] and MCM-41 ("LUS")-alumina [31] membranes, these latter showing high membrane quality together with high gas and water permeation performance and high structural stability.…”

Zeolite Membranes in Catalysis—From Separate Units to Particle Coatings

“…The performance of hydrogen selective zeolite membranes in terms of H2 (product) removal and its effect on the reaction efficiency has been studied in dehydrogenation of alkanes by several groups. For instance, MFI zeolite membranes were applied in a PBMR configuration and extensively investigated in dehydrogenation of i-butane by the group of Dalmon et al [145,[202][203][204]. Either commercial Pt-Sn/γ-Al2O3 [202], Pt-In/silicalite [145,203] or MFI supported Pt-In-Ge [204] catalysts placed in the core of the membrane tube were used.…”

“…For instance, MFI zeolite membranes were applied in a PBMR configuration and extensively investigated in dehydrogenation of i-butane by the group of Dalmon et al [145,[202][203][204]. Either commercial Pt-Sn/γ-Al2O3 [202], Pt-In/silicalite [145,203] or MFI supported Pt-In-Ge [204] catalysts placed in the core of the membrane tube were used. The effectiveness of the membrane reactor to improve dehydrogenation yields compared to the conventional reactor was up to four times higher [145].…”

“…Either commercial Pt-Sn/γ-Al2O3 [202], Pt-In/silicalite [145,203] or MFI supported Pt-In-Ge [204] catalysts placed in the core of the membrane tube were used. The effectiveness of the membrane reactor to improve dehydrogenation yields compared to the conventional reactor was up to four times higher [145]. When comparing mesoporous membranes with microporous zeolite membranes, the authors found hydrogen selectivity only for the latter, while the usage of larger-pored membranes led just to gas mixing at both sides of the membrane [202].…”

“…When comparing mesoporous membranes with microporous zeolite membranes, the authors found hydrogen selectivity only for the latter, while the usage of larger-pored membranes led just to gas mixing at both sides of the membrane [202]. Moreover, the authors pointed on the importance of the precise control/selection of the operating parameters such as feed flow and sweep gas flow, as well as sweep gas configuration and found correlations between membrane reactor performance and membrane permeability or catalyst activity depending on the applied conditions [145,203]. In this regard, the reactor performance was limited by the catalyst activity under counter-current sweep flow conditions so that the catalyst was not active enough to follow the high membrane permeability.…”