Multicomponent dosing in membrane reactors including recycling-concept and demonstration for the oxidative dehydrogenation of propane

The potential of a multicomponent distributed reactant dosing via membranes for enhancing selectivity and yield in a network of series and parallel reactions is investigated in this work. In a preliminary theoretical feasibility study, the optimal local concentrations of the various reactants used to improve the selectivity and conversion of the desired intermediate product were determined. These results were extended to a case study. For this examination, the oxidative dehydrogenation of propane to the kinetically limited intermediate product propylene on a VOx/γ-Al2O3 catalyst was considered. The kinetic equations and parameters were first estimated. It is shown that, compared to a single-component dosing of O 2 via membranes, the yield of propylene can be almost trebled via a controlled simultaneous dosing of oxygen and propane. © 2011 American Chemical Society.