Chemical Engineering & Technology, Vol.43, No.7, 1402-1415, 2020
Pure Hydrogen and Propylene Coproduction in Catalytic Membrane Reactor-Assisted Propane Dehydrogenation
Propane dehydrogenation on a commercial Pt-Sn/Al2O3 catalyst in a Pd-Ag membrane reactor is considered. A mathematical model is developed to evaluate the performance of the catalytic membrane reactor for the process of propane dehydrogenation. Design and operating conditions are systematically evaluated for key performance metrics such as propane conversion, propylene selectivity, hydrogen selectivity, and hydrogen recovery under different operating conditions. The results confirm that the high performance of the membrane reactor is related to the continuous removal of hydrogen from the reaction zone to shift the reaction equilibrium towards the formation of more propylene and hydrogen.
Keywords:Hydrogen production;Membrane reactors;Propane dehydrogenation;Propylene production;Steam reforming