Compact Catalytic Reactor

The potential for the packing of catalyst into channels in the Compact Catalytic Reactor is illnstrated more clearly in Fignre 5.38 in cutaway form. In Fignre 5.39 a manifolded pipe with feeds for the process flnid(s) accommodates the reactor core. 

Figure 5.38 The compact catalytic reactor core, showing the relatively large channels for packing with catalyst, along with the heat transfer surface.The scale can be seen with reference to Figure 5.39, the reactor measures only a few cm across (photograph courtesy of Chart Energy and Chemicals).

S. Kurungot, T. Yamaguchi, S. Nakao, Rh/gamma-Al203 catalytic layer integrated with sol-gel synthesized microporous silica membrane for compact membrane reactor applications, Catal. Lett. 86 (2003) 273. 

This chapter reviews the possibilities that the application of a membrane in a catalytic reactor can improve the selectivity of a catalytic oxidation process to achieve a more compact system or to otherwise increase competitiveness. Classification differentiates between those reactors using dense membranes and those using porous membranes. Dense membranes provide high selectivity towards oxygen or hydrogen and the selective separation of one of these compounds under the reaction conditions is the key element in membrane reactors using such membranes. Porous membranes may have many different operation strategies and the contribution to the reaction can be based on a variety of approaches reactant distribution, controlled contact of reactants or improved flow. Difficulties for the application of membrane reactors in industrial operation are also discussed. 

Battelle Pacific Northwest National Laboratories (PNNL, Richland, WA) are developing microreactors that produce synthesis gas. These reactors can be mass-produced to yield efficient, compact and cost-effective systems, and they have been made from copper, aluminum, stainless steel, high-temperature alloys, plastics and ceramics. Conventional technologies cannot take full advantage of the intrinsically rapid surface reactions involved in the catalytic conversion of hydrocarbon fuels, but microreactors with integrated catalyst structures can61. 

---