Partial Oxidation of Alkanes in a Dual Bed Membrane Reactor

研究：这项工作的短期目标是利用双膜反应器研究丙烷直接部分氧化成化学中间体丙烯醛。这种反应器具有独特的特性，可以提高产品收率，在传统的固定床反应器中进行丙烷到丙烯醛的反应时，这一产率通常较低。使用丙烷等烷烃进行部分氧化直接转化为丙烯醛比目前使用丙烯的工艺更具吸引力，丙烯是一种更昂贵的原料。长期目标是研究、评估和优化双床膜反应器的性能。该反应器由一层惰性膜组成，与反应器管壁同心放置。催化剂位于膜和反应器壁之间，膜起到氧化剂(空气/氧气)和还原进料(丙烷)之间的屏障作用，从而降低了在预混进料的反应器中遇到的易燃危险。双床膜反应器的独特之处在于，它有两个单独进料的催化剂床，因此每个床上的反应条件都可以独立控制。这与串联两个反应器的不同之处在于，在双床膜反应器中，两个催化剂床是相连的。从第一床出来的气相中间体在第二床中被利用。因此，它允许在单个反应器中独立控制温度、催化剂、气相中间体和停留时间。影响：如果结果成功，该技术可以扩展到其他烷烃官能化反应，为化学工业生产环境清洁的含氧中间体提供一种能耗较低的技术。该项目将把研究生和本科生的研究和教学结合起来。

ABSTRACTPI: Eduardo E. Wolf Institution: University of Notre DameProposal Number: 0224435Research:The short term objective of this work is to study the direct partial oxidation of propane to acrolein, a chemical intermediary, using a dual membrane reactor. This reactor has unique characteristics that can increase product yield, which is typically low for the propane to acrolein reaction when carried out in a conventional fixed bed reactor. The use of alkanes, such as propane, for the direct conversion by partial oxidation to acrolein is more attractive than the current process that uses propylene, a more expensive feedstock.The long term objective is to study, evaluate and optimize the capabilities of the dual bed membrane reactor. The reactor consists of an inert membrane, placed concentrically to the reactor tube wall. Catalyst is located between the membrane and the reactor wall and the membrane acts as a barrier between the oxidant (air/oxygen) and the reducing feed (propane) thus reducing the danger of flammability encountered in reactors with premixed feeds. What makes the dual bed membrane reactor unique is that it has two catalyst beds fed separately so that reaction conditions can be independently controlled in each bed. This is different from two reactors in series in that in the dual bed membrane reactor the two catalyst beds are connected. The gas phase intermediates emerging from the first bed are utilized in the second bed. It thus allows the independent control of temperature, catalysts, gas phase intermediates, and residence time in a single reactor.Impact:If the results are successful, the technology could be extended to other alkane functionalization reactions to provide a less energy intensive technology for the environmentally clean production of oxygenate intermediates for the chemical industry. The project will integrate research and teaching both at the graduate and undergraduate level.