Supporting the propane dehydrogenation reactors by hydrogen permselective membrane modules to produce ultra-pure hydrogen and increasing propane conversion: Process modeling and optimization

Abstract

The main aim of this research is supporting the moving bed radial flow reactors in the propane dehydrogenation unit by membrane modules to produce ultra-pure hydrogen and increasing equilibrium conversion. The propane dehydrogenation is a thermodynamically limited and endothermic reaction, which decreasing hydrogen concentration and increasing operating temperature in the system could increase equilibrium conversion. In the first step, the conventional and membrane supported reactors are heterogeneously modeled based on the mass and energy conservation laws considering catalyst decay. To verify the precision of developed model, the results of simulation are compared with the available plant data. Then, the performance of designed membrane configuration is compared with the conventional process at the same feed condition. It appears that the activity of catalyst decreases along the reactors due to coke build up on the catalyst surface, and it results in the lower propane conversion. The results show that supporting the conventional reactors by hydrogen permselective membrane module increases propane conversion up to 3.09%.