Modeling of propane dehydrogenation combined with chemical looping combustion of hydrogen in a fixed bed reactor

A redox process combining propane dehydrogenation(PDH)with selective hydrogen combustion(SHC)is proposed,modeled,simulated,and optimized.In this process,PDH and SHC catalysts are physically mixed in a fixed-bed reactor,so that the two reactions proceed simultaneously.The redox process can be up to 177.0%higher in propylene yield than the conventional process where only PDH catalysts are packed in the reactor.The reason is twofold:firstly,SHC reaction consumes hydrogen and then shifts PDH reaction equilibrium towards propylene;secondly,SHC reaction provides much heat to drive the highly endothermic PDH reaction.Considering propylene yield,operating time,and other factors,the preferable operating conditions for the redox process are a feed temperature of 973 K,a feed pressure of 0.1 MPa,and a mole ratio of H_(2) to C_(3)H_(8) of 0.15,and the optimal mass fraction of PDH catalyst is 0.5.This work should provide some useful guidance for the development of redox processes for propane dehydrogenation.