NAMS 2002 Workshop - ICOM 2008

NAMS Alan S. Michaels Award – 4a
Tuesday July 15, 10:20 AM-10:45 AM, Kaua’i
Membranes and Reactors and Integration, Oh My!
M. Rezac (Speaker), Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA, rezac@ksu.edu
Catalytic reactors are employed to convert a substrate to a product. Frequently,
the conversion is incomplete and not perfectly selective. This requires the use of
more or less complicated down-stream separation processes to recover the
desired pure product. Membrane reactors offer the opportunity to control the
reaction environment resulting in a more desirable product mixture. In this
presentation, we’ll examine several forms of membrane reactors with an
evaluation of the status of each and any remaining barriers to commercialization.
The overall results achieved with these systems include: (1) conversions wellbeyond
the conventional equilibrium limitation, (2) reaction rates and product
selectivities significantly altered by control of the reaction media, and (3)
selective addition of hydrogen via a membrane reactor can positively influence
reaction product composition.
The impact of processing conditions and membrane properties on the reaction
product spectrum will be discussed in this presentation.