Ethane Dehydrogenation Using a Catalytic Membrane Reactor

• Author / Creator

  Yu, Zhengnan

• The steam cracking of hydrocarbons is the dominant technology for ethylene production and is a highly energy intensive process. The increasing demand for ethylene has stimulated substantial research into the development of new process routes to reduce energy consumption and other costs. Catalytic dehydrogenation of ethane using a membrane reactor is an attractive solution because the cracking equilibrium can be shifted in favor of ethylene by selectively removing hydrogen. Lower temperatures can thus be used to generate comparable ethylene yields. Using natural mordenite as membrane and Pt/Al2O3 as catalyst, a reactor with membrane area to reactor volume ratio of 0.16 m-1 improved ethylene yield by 15.6% comparing to the conventional packed-bed reactor at 500°C. A novel Pt-Zn/ETS-2 catalyst for ethane dehydrogenation was also developed. With this catalyst, unlike the Pt/Al2O3, side reactions could be completely suppressed and the ethylene selectivity could reach 100% while conversion was at equilibrium.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Catalsyt
  • Zeolites
  • Ethylene
  • Membrane Reactor
  • Mordenite
  • Etahne
  • ETS-2
  • Dehydrogenation

• Graduation date

  Spring 2015

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3W950W6G

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.