Oxidative dehydrogenation of butane using inert membrane reactor with a non-uniform permeation pattern

Inert ceramic membrane reactors have been investigated for the oxidative dehydrogenation of butane to butadiene and butene. The partially coated porous ceramic membranes have been used as an air distributor to a fixed-bed of V-Mg-O catalyst. The catalyst characterization was carried out by BET, X-ray diffraction (XRD). The performance of inert membrane reactors (IMRs) has been compared to that obtained in a conventional fixed-bed reactor (FBR). The IMRs are more efficient than the FBR. The moderate non-uniform inert membrane reactor (NIMR1) slightly outperforms the uniform inert membrane reactor (UIMR) in most operation conditions investigated. A feeding mode with 10% of air mixing with butane in the NIMR1 (10NIMR1) was found to be more efficient than the feeding mode with all air permeating through ceramic membrane. Selectivity of up to 61.1% and a yield of 42.2% were obtained in the 10NIMR1.