A study of the application of an inert membrane reactor (IMR) to the oxidative dehydrogenation of propane is presented. The performance of the IMR has been compared to that of a conventional fixed bed reactor using the same catalyst and operating conditions, Also, the effect of the membrane permeation properties on reactor performance has been investigated. Finally, a factorial design of experiments has been carried out in order to find the operating conditions that lead to a maximum propene yield. (C) 1000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.