Optimal Catalyst Distribution for Inorganic Membrane Reactors

多相催化在化学和石油工业中用于制造各种有价值的产品。无机膜反应器集催化反应和分离功能于一体。这些反应器的吸引力来自于它们在可逆反应系统中的性能大大提高；随着产物的不断去除，反应可以转移到更高的转化，而不受平衡考虑的限制。在催化剂总量固定的情况下，如何在膜内分配催化剂以优化膜反应器的性能（如反应速率、产物纯度等）是一个问题。这就是这个研究项目的动机。PI计划进行理论与实验相结合的研究，以研究控制催化剂分布的催化膜反应器的性能。理论工作将确定最大化特定性能指标（例如，反应物转化率，产品纯度等）所需的最佳催化剂分布。这将包括膜反应器的分析，其中催化剂沿膜厚度和反应器长度以受控的方式分布。实验工作将针对制备和测试这种膜，并将允许与理论预测进行定量比较

Heterogeneous catalysis is used in the chemical and petroleum industries for the manufacture of a variety of valuable products. Inorganic membrane reactors combine the catalytic reaction and separation functions into one unit. The attractiveness of these reactors arises from their substantially improved performance for reversible reaction systems; as the products are continuously removed the reactions can shift to higher conversions, not limited by equilibrium considerations. For a fixed total amount of catalyst, the question arises as to how it should be distributed within the membrane so that the membrane reactor performance (for example reaction rate, product purity, etc.) is optimized. This is the motivation for this research project. The PI plans to conduct a combined theoretical-experimental study, to investigate the performance of catalytic membrane reactors with controlled catalyst distribution. Theoretical work will identify the optimal catalyst distribution required to maximize specific performance indices (for example, reactant conversion, product purity, etc.). This will include analysis of membrane reactors where the catalyst is distributed in a controlled manner along the membrane thickness as well as along the reactor length. Experimental work will be directed towards preparing and testing such membranes, and will permit a quantitative comparison with theoretical predictions.***//