A continuous polymeric catalytic membrane reactor (pCMR), using a poly-(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)composite membrane that contained pall
adium nanoclusters, was studied and modeled for the propylenehydrogenation. The PDMS catalytic membrane has an average thickness of 4.4
m, and was lo
aded with5 wt % of nanosized pall
adium clusters ~9 nm in diameter. The reaction was performed at 308 K, andseveral feed compositions and flow rates were tested. The pCMR model proposed represents the experimentaldata (i.e., the flow rates and mixture compositions in the permeate and retentate chambers, and, therefore,the overall
advancement) fairly well. In the hydrogenation rate equation, the propylene
adsorptionparameter and the kinetic constant were obtained by fitting the model to the experimental data. On the otherhand, the hydrogen kinetic parameter and the mass-transport parameters were obtained from independentexperiments.