See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/254341549

Production of ethylene and cyclohexane in a catalytic membrane reactor

Article  in  Chemical Engineering and Processing · November 2005

DOI: 10.1016/j.cep.2005.02.004

CITATIONS READS

15 288

2 authors, including:

Abdulrahman A. Al-Rabiah
King Saud University
36 PUBLICATIONS   113 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Ethylene Production View project

Separation using nanoporous carbon membrane View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Abdulrahman A. Al-Rabiah on 12 October 2017.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 Chemical Engineering and Processing 44 (2005) 1188–1196

Production of ethylene and cyclohexane in a catalytic

membrane reactor
M.E.E. Abashar ∗ , A.A. Al-Rabiah
Department of Chemical Engineering, King Saud University, P.O. Box 800, Riyadh 11421, Saudi Arabia

Received 27 July 2004; received in revised form 4 October 2004; accepted 21 February 2005
Available online 31 May 2005

Abstract

A rigorous two-dimensional mathematical model is used to simulate a bench-scale membrane reactor for ethane dehydrogenation to ethylene
using a palladium-based membrane. Since the reaction is equilibrium limited the removal of the product hydrogen by the membrane shifts
the thermodynamic equilibrium. For further displacement of the thermodynamic equilibrium, auxiliary hydrogenation reaction of benzene
to cyclohexane over nickel catalyst is used to remove part of hydrogen. The two catalysts are loaded together in a well-mixed pattern
configuration. Optimal conditions are observed and explanations offered. An effective length criterion for the optimal conditions is presented.
The results show that the well-mixed pattern strategy has substantial improvement in the reactor performance in terms of high conversions,
low temperatures and reduced mass of the catalyst used. The investigation, although is restricted to two catalyst, has uncovered a part of the
rich characteristics of this system.
© 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Cyclohexane; Ethylene; Membrane reactor; Mathematical modeling

1. Introduction Ethylene is commercially produced by thermal cracking

of natural gas liquids (NGLs) or crude oil fractions in the
Ethylene is one of the most important basic chemicals. presence of steam. Thermal cracking employs elevated tem-
The importance of ethylene is derived from the double bond peratures and the cost of separation and purification of the
in its molecular structure. The double bond makes ethylene products is very high [3]. This provides a strong economic
very reactive to a variety of intermediate and end products [1]. incentive for reexamining the impact of new technologies
The major use of ethylene is to produce low and high-density such as catalytic dehydrogenation reactions in catalytic mem-
polyethylenes, which are used in many industrial and domes- brane reactors to overcome high temperature requirements,
tic products. Other significant uses of ethylene include chlo- separation and purification problems in the existing ethylene
rination to ethylene dichloride, used in the manufacture of production technology.
polyvinyl chloride (PVC), oxidation to ethylene oxide, which In the last few years the research interest has been focused
is an intermediate in the manufacture of polyester fibers and on catalytic membrane reactors as multi-functional reactors
films, and the conversion to ethylbenzene, an intermediate in [4–15]. The main advantages of the membrane reactors are:
the manufacture of polystyrene [2]. shift of the thermodynamic equilibrium, simultaneous reac-
tion and separation of products, enhancement of yield and
Abbreviations: CT, contact time; FBR, fixed bed reactor; FBMR, fixed selectivity, control of reactants distribution and low costs.
bed membrane reactor; FBRA, fixed bed reactor with auxiliary reaction; Despite the significant advantages of the membrane catalytic
FBMRA, fixed bed membrane reactor with auxiliary reaction; SR, sweep
ratio
reactors, still the membrane reactor is not fully understood
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +966 1 4675843; fax: +966 1 4678770. and the technology is limited to certain kind of reactions and
E-mail address: mabashar@ksu.edu.sa (M.E.E. Abashar). is not commercially utilized.

0255-2701/$ – see front matter © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.cep.2005.02.004
 M.E.E. Abashar, A.A. Al-Rabiah / Chemical Engineering and Processing 44 (2005) 1188–1196 1189

Recently, several studies have shown that the performance where I at temperature (T0 ) is given by
of the fixed bed catalytic reactors (FBRs) and fixed bed cat-
H ◦ a b c 2 d 3
alytic membrane reactors (FBMRs) has improved signifi- I= − ln T0 − T0 − T − T
cantly by introduction of the dual-functionality via structured RT0 R 2R 6R 0 12R 0
pattern (either mixed or layered configuration) of the catalyst e 4 G◦
− T − (5)
bed [5–7,16]. The purpose of these patterns is to couple the 20R 0 RT0
reactions in different ways to achieve certain degree of inte-
gration of heat, further shift of thermodynamic equilibrium 2.2. Auxiliary reaction
and simultaneous production of more than one product.
Ethane dehydrogenation to ethylene is endothermic and The purpose of the auxiliary reaction is to remove hy-
thermodynamically limited reaction. The membrane reactor drogen for further displacement of the dehydrogenation ther-
technology is very attractive field to be implemented in this modynamic equilibrium. This may be accomplished through
respect, however very little research work has been done so hydrogenation of benzene on nickel catalysts to cyclohexane.
far [9,10,12]. The authors [9,10,12] have shown experimen- The kinetics is given by [19]:
tally that the conversion of ethane to ethylene has improved
C6 H6 + 3H2 → C6 H12 (6)
substantially by implementing the membrane reactors, how-
ever high conversions still require high temperatures. The P C 6 H6 P H2
R2 = k2 KB (7)
objective of this investigation is to explore the potential ap- (1 + KB PC6 H6 )(PC6 H6 + PH2 )
plication of integrated catalytic membrane reactors for simul-
taneous production of ethylene and cyclohexane at relatively the rate constant is given by
 
low temperatures. The concept of the dual-functionality of the 6038.65
catalyst bed is implemented in an experimental co-current k2 = 121.11 × exp − (8)
T
composite membrane reactor. The thermodynamic equilib-
rium is shifted by the membrane and auxiliary reaction. A and the adsorption equilibrium constant of benzene is given
rigorous mathematical model is utilized to study the influ- by
ence of various parameters and to identify the key parame-  
3019.32
ters that are likely to affect the catalyst pattern strategies and KB = 788.0 × exp − (9)
T
the performance of the membrane reactors. This preliminary
investigation is restricted to two types of catalysts.
3. Hydrogen permeation rate

2. Reaction kinetics The composite membrane used in this study is made of a

very thin layer of palladium–silver alloy. The membrane is
2.1. Primary reaction deposited as a continuous layer on the outer surface of ther-
mostable support. The details of the membrane are given by
The rate expression for dehydrogenation of ethane: Gobina et al. [11]. The permeation rate of hydrogen through
the composite membrane is assumed to obey the half power
C2 H6
C2 H4 + H2 (1) pressure law [20,21]:
    
is given by [10]: A
QH2 = Q0 PHt 2 − PHs 2 (10)

 δ
P C H PH
R1 = k1 PC2 H6 − 2 4 2 (2) where QH2 is the hydrogen permeation rate, A the membrane
K1
area available for flow, δ the Pd–Ag alloy film thickness, and
the rate constant is given by (PHt 2 ) and (PHs 2 ) are the hydrogen partial pressures in the
  tube and shell sides, respectively. The permeability constant
9090.69
k1 = 4.39 exp − (3) of hydrogen (Q0 ) has been determined experimentally by
T Gobina et al. [11], as follows:
 
and the equilibrium constant (K1 ) as a function of tempera- −12 767.38
ture (T) is calculated from the standard heat of reaction and Q0 = 1.0061 × 10 exp − (11)
T
standard Gibbs free-energy as follows [17,18]:
H ◦ a b c 2 d 3
ln K1 = − + ln T + T+ T + T 4. Model development
RT R 2R 6R 12R
e 4 A rigorous two-dimensional model is developed for the
+ T +I (4)
20R dehydrogenation of ethane and hydrogenation of benzene in
1190 M.E.E. Abashar, A.A. Al-Rabiah / Chemical Engineering and Processing 44 (2005) 1188–1196

a co-current packed bed membrane reactor. A schematic di- The boundary conditions are
agram of the composite Pd–Ag membrane reactor is given
in Fig. 1. The following simplifying assumptions are used in ∂Cit
L = 0, Cit = Cift ; r1 = 0, = 0;
the derivation of the conservation equations of the model: ∂r1

1. The reactor operates at steady state conditions and isother- r1 = R1 , Cit = Cic ; i = 1–5 (13)
mally with negligible pressure drop.
2. The membrane has exclusive selectivity for hydrogen. The effective diffusivity coefficient is calculated from [22]:
This assumption is justified by the experimental evidence 1 − yi
of Gobina et al. [11]. Dei = (14)

n
3. The reactions are considered to take place only in the tube (yi /Dij )
side. j=1
j = i
4. Negligible diffusion resistances within the catalyst parti-
cles.
5. Axial diffusion is negligible. 4.2. Ceramic support
6. The ideal gas law is obeyed.
The differential mass balance equations on component i
is given by
4.1. Tube side


Deci ε2 ∂ ∂Cc
The differential mass balance equations on component i r2 i = 0, R1 < r2 < R2 , i = 1–5
r2 ∂r2 ∂r2
is given by (15)


∂Cit Det i ε1 L0 1 ∂ ∂Cit (1 − ε1 )L0
= r1 + The boundary conditions are
∂L ul r1 ∂r1 ∂r1 ul

n=2 ∂Cit

 r2 = R1 , Cit = Cic , Dei ε1

t
× θj γij Rj ρj , 0 < r1 < R1 , i = 1–5 (12) ∂r1
r1 =R1
j=1

∂Cic

= Dei ε2
c
, i = 1–5;
where i = 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 for C2 H6 , C2 H4 , H2 , C6 H6 and ∂r2
r2 =R1
C6 H12 , respectively, γ ij the stiochiometric coefficient of com-

∂Cic

ponent i in the jth reaction (negative for reactants) and θ j is r 2 = R2 , = 0, i = 1, 2, 4, 5 (16)

the volume fraction of catalyst j. ∂r2
r2 =R2

Fig. 1. Schematic representation of the co-current catalytic membrane reactor.

 M.E.E. Abashar, A.A. Al-Rabiah / Chemical Engineering and Processing 44 (2005) 1188–1196 1191

for H2 are ignored due to the small particle used. Abashar [24] has

  given special attention in his published article to the total dif-
∂C3c
Q   

=
0
PHt 2 − PHs 2 (17) fusive fluxes in the catalyst pellet in the pilot plant reactor.

∂r2 r2 =R2 δDe3 ε2

c
These are described by implementing the dusty gas model
to gain an insight into various mass transfer processes that
4.3. Shell side take place inside the catalyst pellet through the effectiveness
factor concept.
The differential mass balance on hydrogen gives:
6.1. Single catalyst pattern
dFHs 2
= Q H2 (18)
dL In this case, the fixed bed reactor (FBR) and the fixed bed
membrane reactor (FBMR) are packed with catalyst 1 only,
i.e. the dehydrogenation reaction of ethane (the primary re-
5. Solution of the model equations action) proceeds alone. A comparison is made for identical
feed conditions and catalyst. Since this reaction is highly en-
The global orthogonal collocation technique [23] is imple- dothermic, the comparison is made at isothermal conditions.
mented to change the set of the partial differential equations Fig. 2 compares the performance of the fixed bed reactor
(Eqs. (12) and (15)) into a set of ordinary equations. The radial (FBR) and fixed bed membrane reactor (FBMR) at high tem-
derivatives are discretized using six orthogonal collocation perature (T = 1000.0 K). The contact time (CT) is defined as
points. Then, the new set of ordinary differential equations the mass of the catalyst in the reactor divided by the feed mo-
and the shell side equation (18) are integrated by an IMSL lar flow rate of ethane. The sweep ratio (SR) is defined as the
subroutine (DGEAR) based on a Runge–Kutta–Verner fifth- ratio of the sweep gas rate to that of the feed rate. Fig. 2(a)
and sixth-order method with automatic step size and double shows that the fixed bed reactor (FBR) attains the thermo-
precision to ensure accuracy. dynamic equilibrium and only a small part of the reactor is
utilized. The poor performance shown by the fixed bed reactor
indicates that the fixed bed reactor is not suitable for ethane
6. Results and discussion dehydrogenation at these operating conditions. Substantial
improvement in the ethane conversion is achieved by the fixed
The catalyst used for the dehydrogenation of ethane (the bed membrane reactor (FBMR). The reactor achieves about
primary reaction) is considered to be catalyst 1 and that used 80.16% exit ethane conversion. As shown in Fig. 2(b) that
for the hydrogenation of benzene (the auxiliary reaction) is the driving force for hydrogen permeation decreases along
catalyst 2. Two cases are investigated. The first case involves the length of the reactor and approaches zero and hence com-
only catalyst 1 and the second case involves two types of cat- plete conversion of ethane cannot be achieved. In fact, about
alysts, which are well mixed. Co-current mode of operation 40% of the reactor has very little contribution.
is considered in this study. The data used for mathematical Fig. 3 shows how the exit ethane conversion varies as a
simulation in this investigation are presented in Table 1. In function of temperature for different contact times (CTs).
fact, this hydrogenation–dehydrogenation study differs con- The influence of the contact time in the temperature range of
siderably from the recent published one by Abashar [24]. 800–1000 K is pronounced.
The main differences are: In this study we are dealing with a The effect of the sweep ratio (SR) on the exit ethane con-
different system carried out in a bench scale reactor. The mod- version for various temperatures is shown in Fig. 4. It is
eling level here is very sophisticated using a rigorous two- clearly shown that the increase of the sweep ratio has an
dimensional model. The intraparticle diffusion resistances overall positive effect on the conversion by enhancing the
hydrogen permeation driving force due to the reduction of
Table 1
Data for the membrane reactor [10,19]
the partial pressure of hydrogen in the shell side. In fact, the
complete conversion of ethane occurs at high temperatures
Reactor length (m) 0.15
Radius of catalyst bed (m) 0.39 × 10−2
(T > 1100.0 K) for all sweep ratios.
Palladium–silver alloy film thickness (␮m) 6.0 Sensitivity analysis for the effect of membrane thickness
Thickness of ceramic support (m) 0.11 × 10−2 on the exit ethane conversion is shown in Fig. 5. As it can
Diameter of catalyst pellets (m) (0.15–0.2) × 10−2 be seen, the membrane thickness has little effect on the exit
ρ1 (kg/m3 ) 355.8 ethane conversion. This interesting result reflects the com-
ρ2 (kg/m3 ) 1200.0
ε1 0.5
plex interaction of many factors. According to Eq. (10), the
ε2 0.28 decrease of the membrane thickness has a substantial effect
Catalyst weight (kg) 2.55 × 10−3 on the hydrogen permeation rate. However, the performance
Pressure in tube side (kPa) 150.0 of the membrane reactor does not depend only on the perme-
Pressure of sweep gas (kPa) 100.0 ation rate of the hydrogen. It depends on a complex interac-
Flow rate of sweep gas stream (m3 (STP)/s) 5.000 × 10−6
tion of the feed rate, reaction rate and permeation rate. The
1192 M.E.E. Abashar, A.A. Al-Rabiah / Chemical Engineering and Processing 44 (2005) 1188–1196

Fig. 3. Exit ethane conversion as a function of temperature for various con-

tact time (CT).

Fig. 2. Comparison of fixed bed (FBR) and fixed bed membrane (FBMR) re-
actors: (a) ethane conversion vs. dimensionless reactor length; (b) hydrogen
partial pressure vs. dimensionless reactor length. Fig. 4. Effect of sweep ratio (SR) on the exit ethane conversion for various
temperatures.

decrease of the membrane thickness increases the hydrogen effect of the decrease of the membrane thickness on the exit
permeation rate, then equilibration of the partial pressures ethane conversion.
on each side of the membrane occurs and the permeation Fig. 6 shows the effect of tube side total pressure (Pt )
rate drops accordingly. On the other hand, if the equilibrium on the exit ethane conversion. The dehydrogenation reac-
is approached too slowly the removal of hydrogen will not tion of ethane (Eq. (1)) shows that the total number of moles
affect the conversion in this small reaction volume. In fact, increases. Therefore, the reaction is thermodynamically fa-
the amount of hydrogen permeating per unit time through a vored at low pressure according to Le Châtelier’s [5] principle
specific membrane area must match the amount of hydrogen and at the same time the high pressure favors the hydrogen
produced by the reaction in the given volume of the reactor permeation driving force. As one can see clearly that the
per unit time at the existing driving force. The hydrogen pro- decrease of pressure has positive effect on the exit ethane
duction and removal should be at comparable rates. Neither conversion. This could be due to the fact that under these
the production rate nor removal rate of hydrogen are constant operating conditions the effect of decrease of pressure on
within this small reaction volume. This may explain the little the displacement of the thermodynamic equilibrium is more
 M.E.E. Abashar, A.A. Al-Rabiah / Chemical Engineering and Processing 44 (2005) 1188–1196 1193

Fig. 5. Effect of membrane thickness (δ) on exit ethane conversion.

Fig. 7. Comparison of fixed bed reactor (FBR), fixed bed membrane reactor
(FBMR), fixed bed reactor with auxiliary reaction (FBRA) and fixed bed
membrane reactor with auxiliary reaction (FBMRA).

Fig. 7 compares the fixed bed reactor (FBR), fixed bed

membrane reactor (FBMR), fixed bed reactor with auxil-
iary reaction (FBRA) and fixed bed membrane reactor with
auxiliary reaction (FBMRA) at relatively low temperature
(T = 800 K). It is clearly shown that substantial improvement
in the ethane conversion is achieved in the FBRA by addi-
tion of small amount of catalyst 2 (θ 2 = 0.01). Further im-
provement occurs when the membrane is implemented in the
FBMRA. It is interesting to note that the membrane alone is
not sufficient to shift the thermodynamic equilibrium to high
ethane conversions. It seems that under the prevailing oper-
ating conditions the effect of the auxiliary reaction is more
pronounced on the displacement of the thermodynamic equi-
librium than the membrane. This could be due to the limited
membrane area used in this study. Therefore, in the following
analyses, we focused on the fixed bed membrane reactor with
Fig. 6. Effect of pressure in the tube side on the exit ethane conversion. auxiliary reaction (FBMRA).
Fig. 8 shows how the exit ethane conversion varies as a
function of the bed composition for different temperatures.
pronounced than increase of pressure, i.e. the hydrogen per-
It seems the influence of the temperature is pronounced. It
meation driving force. It is interesting to note that there exists
can be seen that the exit ethane conversion passes through a
a temperature (T = 970 K) beyond which the ethane conver-
maximum with the increase of catalyst 2 (θ 2 ) in the bed. The
sion becomes insensitive to the pressure.
occurrence of the maximum could be due to the interaction
of the equilibrium, hydrogen permeation driving force and
6.2. Two catalysts pattern composition of the catalyst bed. The maxima at temperatures
of 750 and 800 K are presented in a form of plateau. The
This case represents the well-mixed pattern in which two results show that, it is possible to achieve complete conversion
catalysts are involved in the reactions. The well-mixed cata- of ethane at relatively low temperature as shown by the profile
lyst pattern can be made of composite pellets, i.e. the two cat- at T = 750 K. This is an important result because it is known
alysts are co-extruded into composite pellets or two discrete that high temperatures affect the useful life of the membrane
type of pellets that are physically well mixed [5,6]. Here, the and the catalyst.
well-mixed pattern involves loading the reactor with catalysts Fig. 9 shows the conversion profiles along the length of the
1 and 2 after physically well mixed as shown in Fig. 1. reactor at T = 800 K for different catalyst bed compositions.
1194 M.E.E. Abashar, A.A. Al-Rabiah / Chemical Engineering and Processing 44 (2005) 1188–1196

Fig. 8. Exit ethane conversion vs. catalyst 2 concentration for various tem-
peratures. Fig. 10. Effect of temperature on the dimensionless effective reactor
length.

It can be seen that the complete conversion of ethane is shown that the profile at all temperatures present a minimum
attained at different reactor lengths depending on the bed value at which the effective reactor length is optimal. The
compositions. Also, the exit ethane conversion increases and minima steadily decrease as the temperature increases and
decreases as the amount of catalyst 2 increases, i.e. there ex- the effective length regions shrink with the decrease of tem-
ist optimal conditions under which the complete conversion perature. It appears that the temperature has a pronounced
of ethane is achievable. In order to investigate the optimum effect on the effective reactor length and the position of the
conditions, we define an effective reactor length (Leff ) as the optimal conditions.
reactor length that gives 99.8% conversion of ethane. This The effect of the tube side pressure on the dimen-
criterion is fair enough to find the optimum conditions. sionless effective reactor length is shown in Fig. 11. The
Fig. 10 shows the dimensionless effective reactor length increase of the pressure has two opposing effects on the
versus the bed composition for different temperatures. It is thermodynamic equilibrium. The increase of the pressure

Fig. 9. Ethane conversion along the reactor for different concentrations of Fig. 11. Effect of tube side pressure on the dimensionless effective reactor
catalyst 2. length.
 M.E.E. Abashar, A.A. Al-Rabiah / Chemical Engineering and Processing 44 (2005) 1188–1196 1195

has positive effect on the hydrogen permeation driving force k2 reaction rate constant of hydrogenation reaction
and the hydrogenation reaction of benzene due to the de- (kg mol/kg s)
crease in number of moles and negative effect on the de- KB adsorption constant for benzene (Pa−1 )
hydrogenation reaction of ethane due to the increase of the K1 equilibrium constant of dehydrogenation reaction
number of moles. The increase of the pressure has an over- (Pa)
all positive effect on the optimal value of the dimension- L dimensionless reactor length
less effective reactor length and its position. This result is L0 reactor length (m)
opposite to the negative result of increasing the pressure Pi partial pressure of component i (Pa)
in the fixed bed membrane reactor (FBMR) as shown in Pt pressure in tube side (Pa)
Fig. 6. Ps pressure of sweep gas (Pa)
QH2 hydrogen permeation rate (kg mol/s)
Q0 permeability constant (kg mol m/m2 s Pa0.5 )
7. Conclusions r1 radial dimension in catalyst bed (m)
r2 radial dimension in ceramic support (m)
The results presented in this paper show that the inte- R universal gas constant (kJ/kg mol K)
grated catalytic membrane reactor with catalyst pattern strat- R1 inner tube radius (m)
egy is an attractive application for production of ethylene R2 outer radius of composite tube (m)
and cyclohexane. The introduction of the concept of dual- R1 rate of dehydrogenation reaction (kg mol/kg s)
functionality of the well-mixed catalyst bed has appreciable R2 rate of hydrogenation reaction (kg mol/kg s)
improvement of the reactor performance in terms of high con- T temperature (K)
versions, low temperatures and reduced total reactor lengths. ul axial velocity (m2 /s)
The combined effect of the membrane and reaction cou- yi mole fraction of component i
pling is believed to enhance the ethane conversion to com-
pletion at relatively low temperatures (720–800 K). These Greeks symbols
are important results, since it is known that excessive tem- γ ij stiochiometric coefficient of component i in the jth
peratures have destructive effects on the catalysts, the me- reaction
chanical and chemical stability of the membranes and the δ membrane thickness (m)
reactors. ε1 porosity of catalyst bed
Effective operating regions with optimal conditions are ε2 porosity of ceramic support
observed and an effective reactor length criterion is used to θj volume fraction of catalyst j
evaluate the performance of the reactor. In light of the results ρj density of catalyst j (kg/m3 )
presented the optimal effective reactor length is favored by
high temperature and tube side pressure. It seems that the po- Subscript
tential application of coupling ethane and benzene reactions f feed
in fixed bed membrane reactors is promising. Future research
should focus on different catalyst layer configurations and Superscripts
rigorous optimization studies. Further improvements are still c ceramic support
to be expected both in scientific knowledge and industrial s shell side
practice in ethylene industry. t tube side

Appendix A. Nomenclature References

[1] R.B. Eldridge, Olefin/paraffin separation technology: a review, Ind.

A membrane area (m2 ) Eng. Chem. Res. 32 (1993) 2208.
Cic concentration of component i in ceramic support [2] L. Kniel, O. Winter, K. Stork, Ethylene: Keystone to the Petrochem-
(kg mol/m3 ) ical Industry, Marcel Dekker Inc., New York, 1978.
Cit concentration of component i in tube side [3] A.A. Al-Rabiah, Design and optimization of ethylene production uti-
lizing new technologies, PhD Thesis, University of Colorado, USA,
(kg mol/m3 ) 2001.
Dei effective diffusion coefficient of component i (m2 /s) [4] N. Itoh, A membrane reactor using palladium, AIChE J. 33 (1987)
Dij molecular diffusivity for component i in a binary 1576.
mixture of i and j (m2 /s) [5] M.E.E. Abashar, Y.S. Al-Sughair, I.S. Al-Mutaz, Investigation of
FHs 2 hydrogen molar flow rate in shell side (kg mol/s) low temperature decomposition of ammonia using spatially pat-
terned catalytic membrane reactors, Appl. Catal. A: Gen. 35 (2000)
H◦ standard heat of reaction (kJ/kg mol) 236.
k1 reaction rate constant of dehydrogenation reaction [6] M.E.E. Abashar, Integrated catalytic membrane reactors for decom-
(kg mol/kg s Pa) position of ammonia, Chem. Eng. Process. 41 (2002) 403.
 1196 M.E.E. Abashar, A.A. Al-Rabiah / Chemical Engineering and Processing 44 (2005) 1188–1196

[7] M.E.E. Abashar, Stagewise fluidized bed membrane reactors for [15] M.K. Koukou, N. Papayannakos, N.C. Markatos, M. Bracht, P.T.
methane-steam reforming, Afinidad 60 (504) (2003) 184. Alderliesten, Simulation tools for the design of industrial-scale mem-
[8] M.E.E. Abashar, K.I. Al-humaizi, A.M. Adris, Investigation of brane reactors, Trans. IChemE 76 (part A) (1998) 911.
methane-steam reforming in fluidized bed membrane reactors, Trans. [16] A.S. Cote, W.N. Deglass, D. Ramkrishna, Investigation of spatially
IChemE 81 (Part A) (2003) 251. patterned catalytic reactors, Chem. Eng. Sci. 54 (1999) 2627.
[9] E. Gobina, R. Hughes, Ethane dehydrogenation using a high- [17] J.M. Smith, H.C. Van Ness, Introduction to Chemical Engineering
temperature catalytic membrane reactor, J. Membr. Sci. 90 (1994) Thermodynamics, 4th ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, 1987.
11. [18] R.M. Felder, R.W. Rousseau, Elementary Principles of Chemical
[10] E. Gobina, K. Hou, R. Hughes, Ethane dehydrogenation in a catalytic Processes, 3rd ed., Wiley, USA, 2000.
membrane reactor coupled with a reactive sweep gas, Chem. Eng. [19] J.K. Marangozis, B.G. Mantzouranis, A.N. Sophos, Intrinsic kinetics
Sci. 50 (1995) 2311. of hydrogenation of benzene on nickel catalyst supported on kiesel-
[11] E. Gobina, R. Hughes, D. Monaghan, D. Arnell, High temperature guhr, Ind. Eng. Chem. Prod. Res. Dev. 18 (1979) 61.
selective membranes for hydrogen separation, Dev. Chem. Eng. Min. [20] A. Sieverts, W. Kumbhaar, Solubility of gases in metals and alloys,
Proc. 2 (1994) 105. Ber. Deut. Chem. Eng. Des. 43 (1910) 893.
[12] A.M. Champagnie, T.T. Tsotsis, R.G. Minet, I.A. Webster, A high [21] F.J. Ackerman, G.J. Koskinas, Permeation of hydrogen and deu-
temperature catalytic membrane reactor for ethane dehydrogenation, terium through palladium–silver alloys, J. Chem. Eng. Data 17
Chem. Eng. Sci. 45 (1990) 2423. (1972) 51.
[13] T. Tsotsis, A. Champagnie, S. Vasileiadis, Z. Ziaka, R. Minet, The [22] R.B. Bird, W.E. Stewart, E.N. Lightfoot, Transport Phenomena, Wi-
enhancement of reaction yield through the use of high temperature ley, New York, 1960.
membrane reactors, Sep. Sci. Technol. 34 (1993) 1493. [23] J. Villadsen, M.L. Michelsen, Solution of Differential Equation Mod-
[14] R. Dittmeyer, V. Hollein, P. Quicker, G. Emig, G. Hausinger, F. els by Polynomial Approximation, Prentice-Hall, USA, 1978.
Schmidt, Factors controlling the performance of catalytic dehydro- [24] M.E.E. Abashar, Coupling of ethylbenzene dehydrogenation and ben-
genation of ethylbenzene in palladium composite membrane reactors, zene hydrogenation reactions in fixed bed catalytic reactors, Chem.
Chem. Eng. Sci. 54 (1999) 1431. Eng. Process. 43 (2004) 1195.

View publication stats