To cut CO2emissions, we propose to directly convert shale gas into value-added products with a new H2/O2co-transport membrane (HOTM) reactor. A Multiphysics model has been built to simulate the membrane and the catalytic bed with parameters obtained from experimental validation. The model was used to compare C2 yield and CH4conversion rate between the membrane reactor and the state-of-the-art fixed-bed reactor with the same dimensions and operating conditions. The results indicate that (1) the membrane reactor is more efficient in consuming CH4for a given amount of fed O2. (2) The C2 selectivity of the membrane reactor is higher due to the gradual addition of O2into the reactor. (3) The current proposed membrane reactor can have a decent proton molar flux density but most of the proton molar flux will contribute to producing H2O on the feed side under the current operating conditions. The paper for the first-time projects the performance of the membrane reactor for combined H2O/H2removal and C2 production. It could be used as important guidance for experimentalists to design next generation natural gas conversion reactors.
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Kinetic Drawbacks of Combining Electrochemical CO 2 Sorbent Reactivation with CO 2 Absorption
Electrochemical CO2 capture approaches, where electrochemical reactions control the sorbent’s CO2 affinity to drive subsequent CO2 absorption/desorption, have gained substantial attention due to their low energy demands compared to temperature-swing approaches. Typically, the process uses separate electrochemical and mass-transfer steps, producing a 4-stage (cathodic/anodic, absorption/desorption) process, but recent work proposed that these energy demands can be further reduced by combining the electrochemical and CO2 mass-transfer reactor units. Here, we used computational models to examine the practical benefit of combining electrochemical sorbent reactivation with CO2 absorption due to this combination’s implicit assumptions about the process rate and therefore, the reactor size and cost. Comparing the minimum energy demand and process time of this combined reactor to those of the separated configuration, we found that the combined absorber can reduce the energy demand by up to 67% but doing so can also increase the process time by several orders of magnitude. In contrast, optimizing the solution chemistry could benefit both the energy demand and process time simultaneously.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1749207
- PAR ID:
- 10521363
- Publisher / Repository:
- American Chemical Society
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research
- Volume:
- 62
- Issue:
- 46
- ISSN:
- 0888-5885
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 19784 to 19800
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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