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. O^2- species transported through the membrane reacted with ethane to produce ethylene before it recombined to gaseous O², 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 °C. A 100 h continuous operation of this process was carried out and the result indicates the feasibility for practical applications.