Membranes Propane data

There has been a large volume of data showing the benefit of having thin dense membranes (mostly Pd-based) on the hydrogen permeation rate and therefore the reaction conversion. An example is catalytic dehydrogenation of propane using a ZSM-5 based zeolite as the catalyst and a Pd-based membrane. Clayson et al. [1987] selected a membrane thickness of 100 m and achieved a yield of aromatics of 38% compared to approximately 80% when a 8.6 pm thick membrane is used [Uemiya et al., 1990]. 

On behalf of KTI an experimental programme on these reactor concepts has been started at the University of Southern California (USC). Some of the experimental results, concerning the use of Knudsen diffusion membranes are available in the literature [32,40]. These data have been used to calculate the economics of an isothermal propane dehydrogenation membrane reactor concept and are compared with the commercial Oleflex and Catofin processes, based on an adiabatic concept. The experimental circumstances of these lab-scale experiments, especially residence time, pressures and gas composition are not the same as in commercial, large-scale processes. However, we do not expect these differences to have a great influence on the results of the work presented here. 

In 2009 Scovazzo published a significant paper where literature data obtained using the proposed model to predict gas solubility and gas permeability was summarized, along with adding new data, on the SILMs membranes permeabilities and selectivities for the gas pairs CO2/N2, CO2/CH4, O2/N2, ethylene/ethane, propylene/propane, 1-butene/butane, and 1,3-butadiene/butane, with the object as to serve as guide for future researches in this area. 

---