Water Gas Shift Reaction in a Membrane Reactor Using a High Hydrogen Permselective Silica Membrane

A membrane reactor (MR) for the water gas shift (WGS) reaction was developed by integrating a highly hydrogen permselective silica membrane. The membrane was prepared using an extended counter-diffusion chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. A tetramethylorthosilicate (TMOS) silica source was fed from one side of the membrane support and oxygen gas fed from the other. The dense silica film was deposited on a porous support by pressurizing the side that TMOS is supplied. A high hydrogen permselective silica membrane was obtained by this method. A commercial Pt catalyst was used in the WGS reaction. Efficacy of the silica membrane toward the WGS reaction was investigated as a function of temperature (523-623K), steam/carbon monoxide (S/C) ratio (1-3), differential pressure (0-100kPa), and gas hourly space velocity (GHSV; 1800-5400h1). The CO conversion in the MR was higher than that for a fixed bed reactor (FBR) under all experimental conditions, and was also higher than the thermodynamic equilibrium conversion under almost all experimental conditions. This was due to the selective abstraction of hydrogen from the product stream by the silica membrane. At an S/C of 1.0, the CO conversion in the MR was superior to that in a FBR by 16.8%.