Methanol synthesis from CO2 using a silicone rubber/ceramic composite membrane reactor

Abstract

A one-dimensional isothermal pseudo-homogeneous parallel flow model was developed for the methanol synthesis from CO2 in a silicone rubber/ceramic composite membrane reactor. The fourth-order Runge–Kutta method was adopted to simulate the process behaviors in the membrane reactor. How those parameters affect the reaction behaviors in the membrane reactor, such as Damköhler number Da, pressure ratio pr, reaction temperature T, membrane separation factor α, membrane permeation parameter Φ, as well as the non-uniform parameter of membrane permeation L1, were discussed in detail. Parts of the theoretical results were tested and verified; the experimental results showed that the conversion of the main reaction in the membrane reactor increased by 22% against traditional fixed bed reactor, and the optimal non-uniform parameter of membrane permeation rate, L1,opt, does exist.