Tubular dual-layer MFI zeolite membrane reactor for hydrogen production via the WGS reaction: Experimental and modeling studies

Xueliang Dong, Haibing Wang, Zebao Rui, Jerry Lin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

47 Scopus citations

Abstract

Water-gas shift (WGS) reaction is an important intermediate step in converting fossil fuels to hydrogen (H2) for chemical production or power generation. Catalytic membrane reactor with a H2 perm-selective membrane can improve WGS reaction conversion and separate H2 from carbon dioxide (CO2) simultaneously. In this work, experimental work and modeling analysis were performed on WGS in a tubular ZSM-5/silicalite bilayer membrane composed of a 3μm ZSM-5 layer, a 8μm silicalite base layer and a 2μm YSZ barrier layer supported on α-alumina substrate. The experimental and modeling studies demonstrated that temperature, H2O/CO ratio, gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) and feed pressure are key factors that determine the WGS performance in the tubular zeolite membrane reactor. At 500°C and under 5atm with the H2O/CO ratio of 3.0 and GHSV of 72,000h-1, the CO conversion and H2 recovery reached 89.8% and 28.5%, respectively. Appropriate temperature, pressure, H2O/CO ratio and GHSV are crucial to obtain high reaction performance. Modeling analysis coupled with experimental data identifies the optimum operation conditions (550°C, feed pressure of 20atm, H2O/CO ratio of 2.0, GHSV of 60,000h-1) under which one can achieve both high CO conversion (>95%) and H2 recovery (>90%) for WGS in this zeolite membrane reactor.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)219-229
Number of pages11
JournalChemical Engineering Journal
Volume268
DOIs
StatePublished - 2015

Keywords

  • Hydrogen separation
  • Modeling
  • Tubular membranes
  • Water-gas shift
  • Zeolite membranes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry
  • Environmental Chemistry
  • General Chemical Engineering
  • Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

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