POTENTIALS OF INORGANIC MEMBRANE REACTORS

There have been numerous studies exploring the concept of membrane reactors. Many of them, however, are related to biotechnological applications where enzymes are used as catalysts in such reactions as saccharification of celluloses and hydrolysis of proteins at relatively low temperatures. Some applications such as production of monoclonal antibodies in a hollow fiber membrane bioreactor have just begun to be commercialized. 

As evident from the literature, the use of membrane reactors shows significant promises even in the case of porous membranes where Knudsen diffusion predominates and the sq aration factors are only marginal. Even a moderate separation performance can lead to a substantial improvement in reaction performance by continuously displacing the reaction. 

---