Performance of shell and tube-type membrane reactors equipped with heteropolyacid-polymer composite catalytic membranes

Experimental studies on the performance of shell and tube-type membrane reactors equipped with heteropolyacid-polymer composite catalytic membranes were carried out for the vapor-phase decomposition of MTBE (methyl tert-butyl ether). Three types of catalytic membranes comprised of 12-tungstophosphoricacid (H3PW12O40. PW) and polyphenylene oxide (PPO) were designed in this work. The PW-PPO/Al2O3 (type-1), PW-PPO/PPO/Al2O3 (type-2) and PW/PPO/Al2O3 (type-3) catalytic membranes not only showed catalytic reactivity for the reaction, but also were perm-selective for the reaction species. The selective removal of methanol through the catalytic membrane led to an equilibrium shift in a direction favorable to MTBE decomposition. Among three types of catalytic membrane reactor, the PW-PPO/PPO/Al2O3 (type-2) catalytic membrane reactor showed the best performance. The enhanced performance of the PW-PPO/PPO/Al2O3 (type-2) catalytic membrane reactor can be attributed to the intrinsic perm-selective capabilities of the PW PPO catalytic membrane and the sub-layered PPO membrane. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.