(398bv) Single Step Catalytic Conversion of Propane to Propylene Via Reactive Separation

There is a tectonic shift in steam cracker markets. The shale gas revolution in the United States has led to most of the ethylene crackers being shifted to use of ethane as a feedstock. This severely impedes the domestic availability of propylene leading to increased imports. In addition, new proposed ethylene crackers will use ethane as the feedstock instead of naphtha that will increase total ethylene capacity by 52% (~10 Million metric tonnes per annum) without any increase in new domestic propylene availability.

This presents opportunity for custom dedicated processes for propylene manufacturing. Direct conversion of propane to propylene is a feasible catalytic method that co-produces hydrogen. If the co-product hydrogen is removed during the process, the equilibrium shifts to right leading to highly favorable economics. The dehydrogenation of propane was examined in Aspen Plus using both the Gibbs Reactor (RGIBBS) and Equilibrium Reactor (REQUIL) models to demonstrate the beneficial effect. This paper will present experimental and modeling results of the direct propane to propylene conversion process. A catalyst membrane reactor design and development will be discussed.