Simulation of an Isothermal Catalytic Membrane Reactor for the Dehydrogenation of ETHYLBENZENE

Abstract

Mathematical models for predicting the fractional conversion of ethylbenzene and yields of products in a catalytic membrane reactor for the dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene were developed. The mathematical models developed consisted of nonlinear simultaneous differential equations which were solved numerically using the 4^th order Runge-kuta algorithm. Prediction by the models of fractional conversion and yields of product compare favorably with outputs of an industrial reactor with maximum deviations of 0.175. The models were subsequently used to simulate the effects of feed inlet temperature, feed molar ratio of steam and ethylbenzene and inlet pressure on the reactor performance.

Keywords: Dehydrogenation of Ethylbenzene, Catalytic membrane reactor, Reactor modeling, Simulation