Zeolite-Coated Ceramic Pervaporation Membranes; Pervaporation−Esterification Coupling and Reactor Evaluation

Abstract

Pervaporation is a promising option to enhance conversion of reversible condensation reactions, generating water as a byproduct. The present study aims to develop a continuous composite catalytic pervaporation membrane reactor, as integration of reaction and separation offers advantages in terms of process efficiency and compactness. Composite catalytic membranes have been prepared by applying a zeolite coating on top of ceramic hollow fiber silica membranes. This approach allows independent optimization of the selective and catalytic properties. The performance of the composite catalytic membrane is examined in the esterification reaction between acetic acid and butanol. Additionally, a preliminary large-scale composite membrane reactor evaluation is carried out based on the obtained experimental data (e.g., membrane permeability and catalyst activity). In the pervaporation-assisted esterification reaction, the catalytic membrane is able to couple catalytic activity and water removal. A computational reactor evaluation proved that the outlet conversion for the catalytic pervaporation-assisted esterification reaction exceeds the conversion of a conventional inert pervaporation membrane reactor, with the same loading of catalyst dispersed in the liquid bulk. This shows the potential added value of such a membrane system as compared to more common reactor designs.

Recent Progresses in Ceramic Hollow‐Fiber Membranes

“…Although ceramic hollow-fiber membranes have many advantages over other hollow-fiber membranes, more studies should be conducted for the mass production of these membranes at low costs. [65] alumina the determination of trace Cu, Mn, and Ni in environmental water samples [76] g-alumina on a-alumina dehydrogenation of cyclohexane [116] Pd silanized alumina hydrogenation of p-nitrophenol to p-aminophenol [117] zirconia the extraction of a nerve agent degradation product, pinacolyl methylphosphonic acid, from water [32] BCFZ partial oxidation of methane to synthesis gas [118] MFI zeolite membrane supported on YSZ hollow fiber separation of ethanol/water [119] Ionic-conducting ceramic carbonate dual-phase hollow-fiber membranes high temperature carbon dioxide separation [120] Nanocomposite MFI -ceramic hollow fibers CO 2 separation [121] T-type zeolite membranes supported on YSZ hollow fibers for dehydration of 90 wt % isopropanol solution [122] zeolite coated ceramic hollow-fiber silica membranes pervaporation-esterification coupling of acetic acid and butanol [123] www. …”

Zeolite Catalysis

“…In the majority of the applications of PBMRs the zeolite membranes were utilized either for selective product removal or for selective reactant supply. Similarly, in catalytic membrane reactors (CMR), where the zeolite membranes used display both catalytic activity and permselectivity, as shown schematically in Figure 8, e.g., dehydrogenation reactions [144], isomerization [159,160,164,165] and esterification reactions [167,230,231] have been investigated. However, it is the nature of the beast that not all the aforementioned reactions can be carried out in CMRs since zeolites simply are not the candidates of choice for all reactions.…”

“…actions [167,230,231] have been investigated. However, it is the nature of the beast that not all th orementioned reactions can be carried out in CMRs since zeolites simply are not the candidates o oice for all reactions.…”

“…Using composite catalytically active H-USY zeolite membranes Peters et al [230] managed to couple reaction and separation for continuous esterification of acetic acid and butanol. Again, the authors pointed that optimization of the catalytic layer will contribute to further enhancement of the reactor performance.…”

Continuous zeolite membrane reactor for esterification of ethanol and acetic acid

“…Recently, Peters et al [32,33] prepared silica membranes coated with previously available zeolite crystals, with the aim of integrating the catalytic activity of the zeolite and the high performance of silica for water separation. Zeolite Y was selected as the most active based on previous studies [15].…”