A novel porous membrane reactor for a controllable butene oxidative reaction

A novel membrane reactor, composed of a specially prepared porous gamma -al umina ceramic membrane tube and a stainless steel shell, has been designed, and a butene oxidative dehydrogenation reaction has been carried out in it overferrite catalyst. By introducing butene and air into two sides of the porous membrane tube and adjusting the pressure difference across the tube, air permeation into the reaction region can be controlled and butene count erpermeation to the air region can be eliminated. Thus, the oxidative react ion of butene can be carried out at a high butene concentration and a suita ble oxygen content, leading to much higher reactive selectivity and yield c ompared with the conventional fixed bed reactor A method for preparing a no nuniform membrane is given. The effects of some operation parameters, such as the permeation and its axial distribution across the membrane, temperatu re, composition of the feed, and space velocity on the reaction performance have been studied and discussed. It is shown from the study that this kind of reactor can be used for most oxidation reactions if the oxygen reaction order of the main reaction is lower than that of the side reaction.