Modular, process-intensified units such as membrane reactors provide opportunities to reduce the energy consumption of industrial processes and lower their carbon footprints. Such integrated reaction-separation units facilitate the selective removal of one or more byproducts of equilibrium-limited reactions, which reduces their thermodynamic limitations.
Alkane dehydrogenation reactions are commonly studied equilibrium reactions, where the continuous removal of hydrogen (H2) enables higher conversions than in fixed-bed reactors. In addition, membrane reactors serve as “distributors,” wherein they promote controlled reactant distribution. This feature has been used for a range of processes (e.g., Sabatier reaction) and for the production of valuable chemicals (e.g., ammonia, maleic anhydride). Membrane reactors have facilitated better performance than conventional reactors for each of these processes.
In the November AIChE Journal Perspective article, “Expanding the Toolbox for Development of Metal-Based Dual-Functional Catalytic Membranes,” an interdisciplinary team of catalysis and membrane researchers from West Virginia...
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