Membrane reactors conversions

Packed-bed conversion. Membrane reactor conversion. Molecular Sieve Silica. 

Figure 11.34 Effect of permeation to reaction rate ratio on membrane reactor conversion [Mohan and Govind, 1986]...

Da as would be expected. Conversion in an ordinary reactor reaches a certain maximum due to the establishment of the chemical equilibrium. In a membrane reactor conversion keeps increasing as a result of continuous hydrogen permeation. This is an important aspect of the membrane reactor, because the steam excess can be reduced which leads to a favourable economy of the process. 

Fig. 9.5 Left side Pd-Ag membrane reactor isobutene conversion vs. feed space velocity, compared with equilibrium-limited and fixed-bed reactor (argon swept, T = 723 K, after [33]) right side carbon membrane reactor conversion, in the countercurrent sweep and vacuum modes, as a function of feed molar flows at 500°C also denoted are the conventional (non-membrane) reactor conversion and the simulated countercurrent sweep mode behavior (after [23])...

As an example the use of ceramic membranes for ethane dehydrogenation has been discussed (91). The constmction of a commercial reactor, however, is difficult, and a sweep gas is requited to shift the product composition away from equiUbrium values. The achievable conversion also depends on the permeabihty of the membrane. Figure 7 shows the equiUbrium conversion and the conversion that can be obtained from a membrane reactor by selectively removing 80% of the hydrogen produced. Another way to use membranes is only for separation and not for reaction. In this method, a conventional, multiple, fixed-bed catalytic reactor is used for the dehydrogenation. After each bed, the hydrogen is partially separated using membranes to shift the equihbrium. Since separation is independent of reaction, reaction temperature can be optimized for superior performance. Both concepts have been proven in bench-scale units, but are yet to be demonstrated in commercial reactors. 

Fig. 7. Equihbrium conversion of ethane versus temperature at 210 kPa in a membrane reactor. The effect of hydrogen removal on ethane conversion is...

The inhibition analyses were examined differently for free lipase in a batch and immobilised lipase in membrane reactor system. Figure 5.14 shows the kinetics plot for substrate inhibition of the free lipase in the batch system, where [5] is the concentration of (S)-ibuprofen ester in isooctane, and v0 is the initial reaction rate for (S)-ester conversion. The data for immobilised lipase are shown in Figure 5.15 that is, the kinetics plot for substrate inhibition for immobilised lipase in the EMR system. The Hanes-Woolf plots in both systems show similar trends for substrate inhibition. The graphical presentation of rate curves for immobilised lipase shows higher values compared with free enzymes. The value for the... 

Whilst the basic process for generation and conversion of syngas is well established, production from biomass poses several challenges. These centre on the co-production of tars and hydrocarbons during the biomass gasification process, which is typically carried out at 800 °C. Recent advances in the production of more robust catalysts and catalytic membrane reactors should overcome many of these challenges. 

One of the most studied applications of Catalytic Membrane Reactors (CMRs) is the dehydrogenation of alkanes. For this reaction, in conventional reactors and under classical conditions, the conversion is controlled by thermodynamics and high temperatures are required leading to a rapid catalyst deactivation and expensive operative costs In a CMR, the selective removal of hydrogen from the reaction zone through a permselective membrane will favour the conversion and then allow higher olefin yields when compared to conventional (nonmembrane) reactors [1-3]... 

In the isobutane dehydrogenation the catalytic membrane reactor allows a conversion which is twice the one observed in a conventional reactor operating under similar feed, catalyst and temperature conditions (and for which the performance corresponds to the one calculated from thermodynamics) [9]. 

Membrane reactors are known on the macro scale for combining reaction and separation, with additional profits for the whole process as compared with the same separate functions. Microstructured reactors with permeable membranes are used in the same way, e.g. to increase conversion above the equilibrium limit of sole reaction [8, 10, 11, 83]. One way to achieve this is by preparing thin membranes over the pores of a mesh, e.g. by thin-fihn deposition techniques, separating reactant and product streams [11]. 

GP 11] ]R 20] Investigations with a Pd membrane reactor relied on reaction of streams separated via a membrane (to prevent complete mixing of reactants, not to enhance conversion) [11]. A hydrogen/nitrogen stream is guided parallel to an oxygen stream, both separated by the membrane and water is thereby formed. The membranes, made by thin-film processes, can sustain a pressure up to 5 bar. 

An important problem in emulsified organic-aqueous systems is that of scale-up, which is concerned with the realization of stable emulsions and the separation of phases after the reaction. The use of biphasic membrane systems that contain the enzyme and keep the two phases separated is likely to solve this problem. In the case of 5-naproxen an ee of 92% has been demonstrated without any decay in activity over a period of two weeks of continuous operation. A number of examples of biocatalytic membrane reactors have been provided by Giorno and Drioli (2000) and include the conversion of fumaric acid to L-aspartic acid, L-aspartic acid to L-alanine, and cortexolone to hydrocortisone and prednisolone. 

Several hundred tons of L-methionine per year are produced by enzymatic conversion in an enzyme membrane reactor. An alternative approach is dynamic resolution, where the unconverted enantiomer is racemized in situ. Starting from racemic /V-acetyl-amino acid, the enantioselective L-acylase is used in combination with an TV-acyl-amino acid racemase to enable nearly total conversion of the substrate. 

Damle, A.S., Separation of Hydrogen and Carbon Dioxide in Advanced Fossil Energy Conversion Processes using a Membrane Reactor, 2002 Pittsburgh Coal Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, September 2002. 

Jansen, D., W. Haije, M. Carbo, V. Feuillade, J.W. Dijkstra, and R. Brink, Advanced membrane reactors for carbon-free fossil fuel conversion, ECN GCEP Project Presentation, GCEP Energy Research Symposium, Stanford, September 2006. 

After an activation period of 4 h, the conversion showed a maximum of 40% followed by a steady decrease in conversion (Figure 4.38). Overnight, the pressure was decreased to 6 MPa and the needle valve on the permeate side was closed. This shutdown procedure caused the catalyst to precipitate and no reaction occurred anymore. The precipitated catalyst can be used for a new cycle by pressurization of the membrane reactor, redissolving the catalyst. At the end of the third run the conversion had dropped to 33%. A TON of 1.2xl05 in 32 h (t 62 min) was obtained. ICP-AAS analysis of the permeate stream indicated complete retention of the catalyst. The authors propose possible traces of oxygen as the cause of the decrease in activity of the catalyst. 

Membrane filtration using a polyaramide membrane [56] showed a retention of more than 99.8%. Application of this catalyst in a continuously operated membrane reactor showed conversion for more than 150 h. The ee dropped from 80% in the beginning (non-bonded analogue 97%) to about 20% after 150 h. The average ee for the first 80 h was 50%. 

Among the wide choice of reactor designs, the biofilm reactor is one of the best suited for azo-dye conversion as it meets two important process requisites. The first is related to the hindered growth feature of bacterial metabolism under anaerobic conditions. The second is related to the necessity to increase cell densities (see previous section) with respect to those commonly harvested in liquid broths [55, 56]. Except for bacteria that forms aggregates spontaneously, immobilization of cells on granular carriers and membrane reactor technology are the two common pathways to achieve high-density confined cell cultures in either discontinuous or flow reactors. 

Fig. 5. Methane conversion and oxygen flux during partial oxidation of methane in a ceramic membrane reactor. Reaction conditions pressure, 1 atm temperature, 1173 K, feed gas molar ratio, CH Ar = 80/20 feed flow rate, 20 mL min-1 (NTP) catalyst mass, 1.5 g membrane surface area, 8.4 cm2 (57).

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