Dense ceramic membrane reactors configurations

After this chapter. Part 11 is dedicated to zeolite, ceramic and carbon membranes and catalysts used in membrane reactors. In Chapter 6 (Algieri, Comite and Capannelli) the remarkable properties of zeolite membranes are illustrated. Moreover, the key role of zeolite membrane reactors to improve the yield and the selectivity of reactions is particularly emphasised. Furthermore, the possibility of using zeolite membranes as micro-reactors and sensors is also discussed. Chapter 7 (Tan and Li) deals with dense ceramic membrane reactors, which are made from composite oxides usually having perovskite or fluorite structures with appreciable mixed ionic (oxygen ion and/or proton) and electronic conductivity. This chapter mainly describes the principles of various configurations (disc/flat-sheet, tubular and hollow fibre membranes) of dense ceramic membrane reactors and the... 

The general behavior of product-removal membrane reactors has been well studied. More details on porous ceramic membrane reactors can be found in the series of publications by Mohan and Govind. An analysis of different flow configurations and the limits of each has been provided for dense Pd membrane reactors by Itoh. ... 

There are three main types of dense ceramic membranes disk/flat sheet, tubular, and hollow fibers. The disk/flat sheet membranes are applied mostly in research work because they can be fabricated easily in laboratories with a small amount of membrane material. Comparatively, the hollow fiber membranes can provide the largest membrane area per volume but low mechanical strength, while the tubular membranes possess a satisfactory specific membrane area, high mechanical strength, and are easy to assemble in membrane reactors. Dense ceramic MRs can be constructed and operated in either packed bed MR or catalytic MR configurations. 

Dense ceramic membranes allow oxygen or hydrogen permeation in a dissociated or ionized form other than the conventional molecular diffusion, and thus exhibit extremely high selectivity (up to 100%). They can be incorporated into membrane reactors for a variety of oxidation and dehydrogenation reactions where the membrane functions as either a product extractor or a reactant distributor. Three configurations, that is, disc/flat-sheet, tubular and hollow fibre membranes have been applied in membrane reactors. They exhibit respective advantages/disadvantages in terms of the ease and cost of fabrication, the effective membrane area/volume ratio, and... 

Configuration of the dense ceramic hollow fibre membrane reactor. In the figure GC refers to gas chromatography. 

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