A study of ethanol dehydrogenation reaction in a palladium membrane reactor

Palladium alloy membranes were prepared by sequential electroless plating steps on porous stainless steel. In this communication ethanol dehydrogenation to produce acetaldehyde and hydrogen was investigated in a palladium-based membrane reactor. Generally, the ethanol conversion increased with increasing flow rates of sweep gas and decreasing transmembrane pressures. The effect of sweep-gas flow rates on enhancing H-2 fluxes was remarkable at higher temperatures. The recovery of H-2 increased with increasing the flow rate of sweep gas, the transmembrane pressure and the temperature. The Pd-based dense membrane reactors gave a conversion higher than the thermodynamic equilibrium value for the dehydrogenation of ethanol. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.