Membrane reactors prospects

McLeary, E.E., Jansen, J.C., and Kapteijn, E. (2006) Zeolite based films, membranes and membrane reactors progress and prospects. Micropor. Mesopor. Mater., 90,198-220. 

Sjardin, M., Damen, K.J. and Faaij, A.P.C. (2006) Techno-economic prospects of small-scale membrane reactors in a future hydrogen-fuelled transportation sector. Energy, 31 (14), 2187-2219. 

Daramola M. O., Burger A. J., Giroir-Fendler A., Miachon S., Lorenzen L. 2010. Extractor-type catalytic membrane reactor with nanocomposite MFI-alumina membrane tube as separation unit Prospect for ultra-pure para-Xylene production from m-Xylene isomerization over Pt-HZSM-5 catalyst. Applied Catalysis A General 386(1-2) 109-115. 

Hashim SM, Mohamed AR, Bhatia S. Catalytic inorganic membrane reactors Present research and futnre prospects. Rev Chem Eng 2011 27(3 ) 1574-1178. 

E.E. McLeary, J.C. Jansen, and F. Kapteijn, Zeolite based films, membranes and membrane reactors Progress and prospects, Microporous Mesoporous Mat, 90 (2006) 198-220. 

The promising prospect of these membranes is not in the first place the production of oxygen, but their application in membrane reactors for the partial oxidation of natural gas, which is schematically shown in Fig. 7.8. 

This chapter will describe extensively the dense ceramic oxygen permeable membrane reactors from their principles, fabrication, and design to their applications. The prospects and critical issues of the dense... 

A particular version of the PEFC is the direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). As the name implies, an aqueous solution of methanol is used as fuel instead of the hydrogen-rich gas, eliminating the need for reformers and shift reactors. The major challenge for the DMFC is the crossover of methanol from the anode compartment into the cathode compartment through the membrane that poisons the electrodes by CO. Consequently, the cell potentials and hence the system efficiencies are still low. Nevertheless, the DMFC offers the prospect of replacing batteries in consumer electronics and has attracted the interest of this industry. 

Probably the only possibility is the combination of a high driving force (sweep gas or low permeate pressure) and a very high selective membrane. The use of ceramic membranes in an isothermal reactor concept shows better prospects. This process, in combination with high selective membranes and the necessary membrane boundary conditions are being studied, and the results will be reported in future. 

In this section, some selected examples of integrated membrane processes, aiming at consolidating various unit processes into a single reactor, wiU be discussed. These have not yet reached the industrial scale, but they are nonetheless prospective. The immobilization of cells is a technique that has proven increased ethanol productivity. 

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