Method for improving the performance of porous membrane reactor

Experiments and simulations have been carried out to study the possibility of a new proposed method (MPMR) for improving the performance of a conventi onal porous membrane reactor system (CPMR), by which the sweep side is fill ed the same dehydropenation catalyst as used in the feed side. By experimen t and simulation, it is proved that MPMR can improve CPMR not only with pur e feed but also with diluted feed. The reason for the improvement is becaus e the sweep side can effectively convert reactant that permeates through th e membrane. However, Vycor glass-based MPMR cannot exceed the performance o f GFBR, which is a fixed bed reactor where all inert gas dilutes the reacti on system. Simulation results show that partial pressures of products in th e sweep side of the MPMR are much smaller than those in the feed side, Ther efore permeation of reactive species from the feed side to the sweep side s till occurs as observed for CPMR.