Influence of the operating conditions on yield and selectivity for the partial oxidation of ethane in a catalytic membrane reactor

In this study, simulation results are presented for the partial oxidation of ethane to ethylene in a Catalytic Membrane Reactor (CMR) under isothermal and non-isothermal conditions. Considering the importance of the transport processes, a 2D model was developed and implemented in FLUENT® using self-designed program modules for reaction kinetics, transport properties and post-processing. An analysis of significance of the influencing variables is carried out on the basis of a reference case. The number of parameters were minimized by the dimensionless formulation of the model. One of the most important variables is the oxygen dosage through the membrane. Both velocity and oxygen concentration of the trans-membrane stream were varied with the aim of attaining maximum ethylene yield. The results of the different simulations clearly show the advantages of the CMR compared to the Catalytic Wall Reactor (CWR). The numerical simulations are essential in order to reduce the experimental costs and to evaluate different reactor concepts.