Comparison of the catalytic performance of V2O5/γ-Al2O3 in the oxidehydrogenation of propane to propylene in different reactor configurations: i) packed-bed reactor, ii) monolith-like reactor and iii) catalytic membrane reactor

The performance of a γ-Al2O3-supported vanadium oxide as the catalyst for the oxidehydrogenation of propane to propylene was evaluated when the catalyst was used in a conventional packed fixed-bed reactor, and when the same catalyst was prepared by deposition of the vanadium oxide onto the γ-Al2O3 which was deposited on the internal surface of a tubular porous ceramic device. This was used as the reactor either by co-feeding all reactants at the core side (monolith-type reactor), or by differentiating oxygen and propane at the core and shell side, respectively (Catalytic Membrane Reactor). It was found that the monolith-like reactor configuration led to considerable enhancement of the turnover number as well as of the selectivity to propylene with respect to the packed-bed reactor. The use of the CMR led to a slight, but non-negligible, further enhancement of the selectivity to propylene.