Bench-Scale Membrane Reactor for Methylcyclohexane Dehydrogenation Using Silica Membrane Module

Methylcyclohexane-toluene system is one of the most promising methods for hydrogen transport/storage. The methylcyclohexane dehydrogenation can be exceeded by the equilibrium conversion using membrane reactor. However, the modularization of the membrane reactor and manufacturing longer silica membranes than 100 mm are little developed. Herein, we have developed silica membrane with practical length by a counter-diffusion chemical vapor deposition method, and membrane reactor module bundled multiple silica membranes. The developed 500 mm-length silica membrane had high hydrogen permselective performance (H2 permeance > 1 × 10−6 mol m−2 s−1 Pa−1, H2/SF6 selectivity > 10,000). In addition, we successfully demonstrated effective methylcyclohexane dehydrogenation using a flange-type membrane reactor module, which was installed with 6 silica membranes. The results indicated that conversion of methylcyclohexane was around 85% at 573 K, whereas the equilibrium conversion was 42%.

Catalytic Dehydrogenation of Methylcyclohexane by Pt Nanoparticles Supported on Nitrogen doped Carbon

Pt nanoparticles supported on nitrogen doped carbon (Pt/CN) catalysts with different surface areas were obtained and characterized by transmission electron microscope （TEM） and brunner-emmet-teller （BET）. The characterized results showed that Pt nanoparticles dispersed uniformly on the support surface, and the surface area of the Pt/CN catalyst increased with the increase of annealing temperature. Subsequently, the catalytic performance of Pt/CN catalysts for methylcyclohexane dehydrogenation was studied. The activity of Pt/CN catalysts in methylcyclohexane dehydrogenation increased with the increase of the surface area, Pt/CN-1000 catalyst has the largest surface area and the highest catalytic activity, with the methylcyclohexane conversion of 99% and the TOF value of 424.78 h-1 at 180 ℃ for 150 minutes.

Simulation Study to Investigate the Effects of Operational Conditions on Methylcyclohexane Dehydrogenation for Hydrogen Production

In the recent era, hydrogen has gained immense consideration as a clean-energy carrier. Its storage is, however, still the main hurdle in the implementation of a hydrogen-based clean economy. Liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHCs) are a potential option for hydrogen storage in ambient conditions, and can contribute to the clean-fuel concept in the future. In the present work, a parametric and simulation study was carried out for the storage and release of hydrogen for the methylcyclohexane toluene system. In particular, the methylcyclohexane dehydrogenation reaction is investigated over six potential catalysts for the temperature range of 300–450 °C and a pressure range of 1–3 bar to select the best catalyst under optimum operating conditions. Moreover, the effects of hydrogen addition in the feed mixture, and byproduct yield, are also studied as functions of operating conditions. The best catalyst selected for the process is 1 wt. % Pt/γ-Al2O3. The optimum operating conditions selected for the dehydrogenation process are 360 °C and 1.8 bar. Hydrogen addition in the feed reduces the percentage of methylcyclohexane conversion but is required to enhance the catalyst’s stability. Aspen HYSYS v. 9.0 (AspenTech, Lahore, Pakistan) has been used to carry out the simulation study.

Irreversible catalytic methylcyclohexane dehydrogenation by surface protonics at low temperature

Surface protonics by applying electric field promotes low temperature methylcyclohexane dehydrogenation for effective hydrogen production.