A new kind of inorganic membrane featuring Hz permeability of 10(-6) mol/(m(2).s.Pa) magnitude and H-2/EB selectivity over 75 is applied in a membrane reactor for dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene (EB) to styrene. At a temperature range of 560-600 degrees C, an EB liquid hour space velocity (LHSV) of 0.5-1.0/hour and a water/EB molar ratio of 9.86-16.42, the membrane reactor improves styrene yield to a maximum of 21.5% and a top per-pass stryrene yield of 75%, which is 10% above that obtained in a fixed bed.