Oxidative dehydrogenation of butene to butadiene in optimum membrane reactor

The optimal inorganic membrane controlling oxygen was designed and prepared. The oxidative dehydrogenation of butene to butadiene was carried out in uniform catalytic membrane reactor and in non-uniform membrane reactor. The effects of temperature, feed flow rate, and O₂C₄H₈ ratio on butene conversion and selectivity for butadiene were systematically studied. The experimental results showed that the performance of non-uniform membrane reactor for the reaction is superior to that of uniform membrane reactor under the same conditions. A mathematical model was developed to simulate the reaction behavior in the membrane reactor. The calculated results agree well with the experimental ones.