Propane dehydrogenation in a packed-bed membrane reactor

Membrane reactors combine reaction and separation in one-unit operation, the membrane selectively removing one or more of the reactant or product species. These reactors have been used with thermodynamically or kinetically limited reactions. They help increase their yields through the use of membranes, which allow product/reactant species to permeate out of the reaction zone. This group has reported in the past on the use of catalytic membrane, reactors for ethane dehydrogenation and methane steam reforming. A general model for the catalytic membrane reactor has been developed and applied to ethane dehydrogenation. Here, the authors report results of their studies with propane dehydrogenation in a packed-bed membrane reactor. To the best of their knowledge, this is the first open literature report for this reaction being carried out in a packed-bed membrane reactor.