Zeolite-coated ceramic pervaporation membranes: Pervaporation- esterification coupling and reactor evaluation

Pervaporation is a promising option to enhance conversion of reversible condensation reactions, generating water as a byproduct. The present study aims to develop a continuous composite catalytic pervaporation membrane reactor, as integration of reaction and separation offers advantages in terms of process efficiency and compactness. Composite catalytic membranes have been prepared by applying a zeolite coating on top of ceramic hollow fiber silica-membranes. This approach allows independent optimization of the selective and catalytic properties. The performance of the composite catalytic membrane is examined in the esterification reaction between acetic acid and butanol. Additionally, a preliminary large-scale composite membrane reactor evaluation is carried out based on the obtained experimental data (e.g., membrane permeability and catalyst activity). In the pervaporation-assisted esterification reaction, the catalytic membrane is able to couple catalytic activity and water removal. A computational reactor evaluation proved that the outlet conversion for the catalytic pervaporation-assisted esterification reaction exceeds the conversion of a conventional inert pervaporation membrane reactor, with the same loading of catalyst dispersed in the liquid bulk. This shows the potential added value of such a membrane system as compared to more common reactor designs.