Separation of neutral compounds by high speed capillary electrochromatography

With using short capillary column packed with porous and non-porous ODS stationary phases, high speed separation of 6 neutral aromatic compounds within 36 s by capillary electrochromatography (CEC) has been performed. Good reproducibility of the migration times for those solutes in high speed CEC was observed with RSD less than 1%. Both the linear velocity of EOF and the current linearly increases with the applied voltage, which means that the thermal effect by Joule heating was small. However, the capacity factor of solutes was found to decrease with the increase of the applied voltage, which was caused by the fact that about several seconds needed for the increase of voltage from 0 to applied value on a commercial CE instrument made larger contributions to the migration times of the early eluted compounds than those of lately eluted ones during high speed CEC, and voltage effect would increase with the higher applied voltage used. The linear relationship between the logarithm of capacity factor and the number of carbon for homologous compounds was observed, and positive value of slope means that the hydrophobicity of solutes is one of the main contribution factors to retention in high speed CEC packed with ODS stationary phases.

Continuous oxygen ion transfer medium as a catalyst for high selective oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane

An oxygen permeable mixed ion and electron conducting membrane (OPMIECM) was used as an oxygen transfer medium as well as a catalyst for the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane to produce ethylene. O2- species transported through the membrane reacted with ethane to produce ethylene before it recombined to gaseous O-2, so that the deep oxidation of the products was greatly suppressed. As a result, 80% selectivity of ethylene at 84% ethane conversion was achieved, whereas 53.7% ethylene selectivity was obtained using a conventional fixed-bed reactor under the same reaction conditions with the same catalyst at 800 degreesC. A 100 h continuous operation of this process was carried out and the result indicates the feasibility for practical applications.

High selectivity of oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane to ethylene in an oxygen permeable membrane reactor

An oxygen permeable membrane based on Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.8-Fe0.2O3-delta is used to supply lattice oxide continuously for oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane to ethylene with selectivity as high as 90% at 650degreesC.

Novel and ideal zirconium-based dense membrane reactors for partial oxidation of methane to syngas

A novel and ideal dense catalytic membrane reactor for the reaction of partial oxidation of methane to syngas (POM) was constructed from the stable mixed conducting perovskite material of BaCo0.4Fe0.4Zr0.2O3-delta and the catalyst of LiLaNiO/gamma-Al2O3. The POM reaction was performed successfully. Not only was a short induction period of 2 h obtained, but also a high catalytic performance of 96-98% CH4 conversion, 98-99% CO selectivity and an oxygen permeation flux of 5.4-5.8 ml cm(-2) min(-1) (1.9-2.) mumol m(-2) S-1 Pa-1) at 850 degreesC were achieved. Moreover, the reaction has been steadily carried out for more than 2200 h, and no interaction between the membrane material and the catalyst took place.

Preparation of zeolite-metal composite membrane

A NaA zeolite membrane was synthesized on the surface of the stainless steel stab. The membrane was characterized by XRD and SEM. The membrane was continuous and highly intergrown. The size of NaA zeolite crystals was about 5 similar to 6 mum.

Performance of a mixed-conducting ceramic membrane reactor with high oxygen permeability for methane conversion

A mixed-conducting perovskite-type Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.8Fe0.2O3-delta (BSCFO) ceramic membrane reactor with high oxygen permeability was applied for the activation of methane. The membrane reactor has intrinsic catalytic activities for methane conversion to ethane and ethylene. C-2 selectivity up to 40-70% was achieved, albeit that conversion rate were low, typically 0.5-3.5% at 800-900 degreesC with a 50% helium diluted methane inlet stream at a flow rate of 34 ml/min. Large amount of unreacted molecular oxygen was detected in the eluted gas and the oxygen permeation flux improved only slightly compared with that under non-reactive air/He experiments. The partial oxidation of methane to syngas in a BSCFO membrane reactor was also performed by packing LiLaNiO/gamma -Al2O3 with 10% Ni loading as the catalyst. At the initial stage, oxygen permeation flux, methane conversion and CO selectivity were closely related with the state of the catalyst. Less than 21 h was needed for the oxygen permeation flux to reach its steady state. 98.5% CH4 conversion, 93.0% CO selectivity and 10.45 ml/cm(2) min oxygen permeation flux were achieved under steady state at 850 degreesC. Methane conversion and oxygen permeation flux increased with increasing temperature, No fracture of the membrane reactor was observed during syngas production. However, H-2-TPR investigation demonstrated that the BSCFO was unstable under reducing atmosphere, yet the material was found to have excellent phase reversibility. A membrane reactor made from BSCFO was successfully operated for the POM reaction at 875 degreesC for more than 500h without failure, with a stable oxygen permeation flux of about 11.5 ml/cm(2) min. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Experimental velocity measurements and effect of flow maldistribution on predicted permeator performances

The shell-side flow distribution of a parallel flow hollow-fiber gas permeator was characterized using a thermo-anemograph. The permeator has an internal diameter of 103 mm and contains 21000 fibers. The overall fiber packing fraction is 40.1%. Experimental results revealed that shell-side flow maldistributions exist in the operating conditions studied. The gas-flow velocity is the highest at the permeator center, but lowest near the shell wall. The effects of shell-side flow maldistribution on predicted permeator performances are discussed with a simple model. Model calculation results show that flow maldistributions can have considerable effect on permeation systems with relatively high separation factors and stage cuts. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.