Effect of hydrogen combustion reaction on the dehydrogenation of ethane in a fixed-bed catalytic membrane reactor

• Published in: Chinese journal of chemical engineering 2015-08, Vol.23 (8), p.1316-1325
• Main Authors: Hasany, Masoud, Malakootikhah, Mohammad, Rahmanian, Vahid, Yaghmaei, Soheila
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Catalytic membrane reactor; Ethane dehydrogenation; Hydrogen combustion; Mathematical modeling; 乙烷脱氢; 催化膜反应器; 固定床; 数学模型; 氧化脱氢; 热力学平衡; 燃烧反应; 脱氢反应
• ISSN: 1004-9541; 2210-321X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cjche.2015.05.006

A two-dimensional non-isothermal mathematical model has been developed for the ethane dehydrogenation reaction in a fixed-bed catalytic membrane reactor. Since ethane dehydrogenation is an equilibrium reaction,removal of produced hydrogen by the membrane shifts the thermodynamic equilibrium to ethylene production.For further displacement of the dehydrogenation reaction, oxidative dehydrogenation method has been used.Since ethane dehydrogenation is an endothermic reaction, the energy produced by the oxidative dehydrogenation method is consumed by the dehydrogenation reaction. The results show that the oxidative dehydrogenation method generated a substantial improvement in the reactor performance in terms of high conversions and signi ficant energy saving. It was also established that the sweep gas velocity in the shell side of the reactor is one of the most important factors in the effectiveness of the reactor.