Methylcyclohexane Dehydrogenation in Catalytic Membrane Reactors for Efficient Hydrogen Production

Abstract

The dehydrogenation of methylcyclohexane (MCH) in catalytic membrane reactors for hydrogen production was studied experimentally and theoretically. The membrane reactor was composed of a Pt/γ-Al2O3/α-Al2O3 catalytic support and a H2-selective silica separation layer, showing H2 permeances of (1.51–2.83) × 10–6 mol m–2 s–1 Pa–1 with H2/SF6 permeance ratios of 290–1000 at 473 K. The MCH conversion was markedly increased after hydrogen extraction from the membrane reactor, which agreed very well with the results obtained by simulation using a proposed mathematical model. The effects of the catalytic activity and hydrogen extraction rate on membrane reactor performance were investigated during the simulations. A system combining a fixed-bed prereactor and a membrane reactor was proposed for MCH dehydrogenation, which further improved the MCH conversion as a result of the enhanced driving force for hydrogen extraction from the membrane reactor.