Schematic of Tube-and-Shell Membrane Reactor

A typical membrane reactor (MR) configuration is depicted schematically in this figure. The membrane tube is enclosed in a non-permeable outer shell, through which energy can be transferred to an external cooling or heating medium. Reactant B (hydrocarbon) is fed to the shell or reaction side and reactant A (oxygen) to the tube side. The shell side can be packed with catalyst for the case of heterogeneous catalysis. Either or both reactants can be diluted with an inert carrier. Heat transfer may also take place between the tube and shell sides. For a plug-flow reactor (PFR), no transfer of species across the membrane tube is permitted, and both reactants would be co-fed to the shell side.