Dense ceramic catalytic membranes and membrane reactors for energy and environmental applications

Abstract

Catalytic membrane reactors which carry out separation and reaction in a single unit are expected to be a promising approach to achieve green and sustainable chemistry with less energy consumption and lower pollution. This article presents a review of the recent progress of dense ceramic catalytic membranes and membrane reactors, and their potential applications in energy and environmental areas. A basic knowledge of catalytic membranes and membrane reactors is first introduced briefly, followed by a short discussion on the membrane materials including their structures, composition and strategies for material development. The configuration of catalytic membranes, the design of membrane reaction processes and the high temperature sealing are also discussed. The performance of catalytic membrane reactors for energy and environmental applications are summarized and typical catalytic membrane reaction processes are presented and discussed. Finally, current challenges and difficulties related to the industrialization of dense ceramic membrane reactors are addressed and possible future research is also outlined.

Design and experimental investigation of oxide ceramic dual-phase membranes

“…Mixed conducting oxides have been attracting much attention in view of their promising applications, such as cathode and anode materials for solid oxide fuel cells [1], membranes for pure oxygen production and conversion of hydrocarbons to value-added products [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Over the past two decades, a number of mixed conducting materials based on perovskite-type oxides have been developed to meet many kinds of requirements in practical applications.…”

“…Among the ionic conductors shown in Fig. 1, Y or Sc stabilized zirconia, doped ceria, doped bismuth oxides, La 2 Mo 2 O 9 and La 1−x Sr x Ga 1−y Mg y O 3−ı (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.2, 0 ≤ y ≤ 0.2) possess high ionic conductivity and are suitable as the ionic conducting phase for dual-phase membranes. However, when the stability under reducing environments is considered, only Y or Sc stabilized zirconia, doped ceria and La 1−x Sr x Ga 1−y Mg y O 3−ı are suitable.…”

A review of solar methane reforming systems

“…Moreover, in these reactors, the performance is kinetically limited by the surface reactions on the membrane [93]. Thus, further improvements can potentially be made by using a catalyst on the membrane [96]. In terms of integrating the membrane reactor with the solar collectors, the membrane system would be directly heated with reforming reactions occurring on one side of the membrane (most likely the side being heated).…”

Novel Zeolite-polyurethane membrane for environmental applications and gas separations

“…The major applications of these membranes include hydrogen separation and purification to get ultra-pure hydrogen, recovery of CO2 from natural gas and power station flue gases and oxygen or nitrogen enrichment of air [8]. Ceramic membranes can also be incorporated into chemical reactors where they can serve as catalysts to effect equilibrium-shift for enhanced product yield [8]. The process of gas separations from shuttle tankers using membrane technology is depicted in Fig.…”

“…The progress of catalytic membrane reactor (CMR) technology greatly depends on the development of new membrane materials and the performance of dense mixed conducting ceramic membranes is strongly dependent on the properties of the membrane materials. The major applications of these membranes include hydrogen separation and purification to get ultra-pure hydrogen, recovery of CO2 from natural gas and power station flue gases and oxygen or nitrogen enrichment of air [8]. Ceramic membranes can also be incorporated into chemical reactors where they can serve as catalysts to effect equilibrium-shift for enhanced product yield [8].…”