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Kwak Y, Wang C, Kavale CA, Yu K, Selvam E, Mallada R, Santamaria J, Julian I, Catala-Civera JM, Goyal H, Zheng W, Vlachos DG. Microwave-assisted, performance-advantaged electrification of propane dehydrogenation. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadi8219. [PMID: 37713491 PMCID: PMC10881033 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adi8219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2023] [Accepted: 08/15/2023] [Indexed: 09/17/2023]
Abstract
Nonoxidative propane dehydrogenation (PDH) produces on-site propylene for value-added chemicals. While commercial, its modest selectivity and catalyst deactivation hamper the process efficiency and limit operation to lower temperatures. We demonstrate PDH in a microwave (MW)-heated reactor over PtSn/SiO2 catalyst pellets loaded in a SiC monolith acting as MW susceptor and a heat distributor while ensuring comparable conditions with conventional reactors. Time-on-stream experiments show active and stable operation at 500°C without hydrogen addition. Upon increasing temperature or feed partial pressure at high space velocity, catalysts under MWs show resistance in coking and sintering, high activity, and selectivity, starkly contrasting conventional reactors whose catalyst undergoes deactivation. Mechanistic differences in coke formation are exposed. Gas-solid temperature gradients are computationally investigated, and nanoscale temperature inhomogeneities are proposed to rationalize the different performances of the heating modes. The approach highlights the great potential of electrification of endothermic catalytic reactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yeonsu Kwak
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, 150 Academy St., Newark, DE 19716, USA
- RAPID Manufacturing Institute, Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation and Delaware Energy Institute, 221 Academy St., Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | - Cong Wang
- RAPID Manufacturing Institute, Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation and Delaware Energy Institute, 221 Academy St., Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | - Chaitanya A. Kavale
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600036, India
| | - Kewei Yu
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, 150 Academy St., Newark, DE 19716, USA
- RAPID Manufacturing Institute, Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation and Delaware Energy Institute, 221 Academy St., Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | - Esun Selvam
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, 150 Academy St., Newark, DE 19716, USA
- RAPID Manufacturing Institute, Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation and Delaware Energy Institute, 221 Academy St., Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | - Reyes Mallada
- Instituto de Nanociencia y Materiales de Aragón (INMA), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC-Universidad de Zaragoza), Zaragoza 50018, Spain
| | - Jesus Santamaria
- Instituto de Nanociencia y Materiales de Aragón (INMA), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC-Universidad de Zaragoza), Zaragoza 50018, Spain
| | | | | | - Himanshu Goyal
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600036, India
| | - Weiqing Zheng
- RAPID Manufacturing Institute, Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation and Delaware Energy Institute, 221 Academy St., Newark, DE 19716, USA
| | - Dionisios G. Vlachos
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, 150 Academy St., Newark, DE 19716, USA
- RAPID Manufacturing Institute, Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation and Delaware Energy Institute, 221 Academy St., Newark, DE 19716, USA
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Parmar N, Kavale CA, Goyal H. A Computationally Fast Method to Simulate Microwave-Heated Monoliths. Ind Eng Chem Res 2023. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.2c03877] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Nidhi Parmar
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu600036, India
| | - Chaitanya A. Kavale
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu600036, India
| | - Himanshu Goyal
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu600036, India
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Hueso JL, Mallada R, Santamaria J. Gas-solid contactors and catalytic reactors with direct microwave heating: Current status and perspectives. Catal Today 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cattod.2022.10.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Chen TY, Hsiao YW, Baker-Fales M, Cameli F, Dimitrakellis P, Vlachos DG. Microflow chemistry and its electrification for sustainable chemical manufacturing. Chem Sci 2022; 13:10644-10685. [PMID: 36320706 PMCID: PMC9491096 DOI: 10.1039/d2sc01684b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2022] [Accepted: 08/03/2022] [Indexed: 10/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Sustainability is vital in solving global societal problems. Still, it requires a holistic view by considering renewable energy and carbon sources, recycling waste streams, environmentally friendly resource extraction and handling, and green manufacturing. Flow chemistry at the microscale can enable continuous sustainable manufacturing by opening up new operating windows, precise residence time control, enhanced mixing and transport, improved yield and productivity, and inherent safety. Furthermore, integrating microfluidic systems with alternative energy sources, such as microwaves and plasmas, offers tremendous promise for electrifying and intensifying modular and distributed chemical processing. This review provides an overview of microflow chemistry, electrification, their integration toward sustainable manufacturing, and their application to biomass upgrade (a select number of other processes are also touched upon). Finally, we identify critical areas for future research, such as matching technology to the scale of the application, techno-economic analysis, and life cycle assessment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tai-Ying Chen
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware 150 Academy Street Newark Delaware 19716 USA
| | - Yung Wei Hsiao
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware 150 Academy Street Newark Delaware 19716 USA
| | - Montgomery Baker-Fales
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware 150 Academy Street Newark Delaware 19716 USA
| | - Fabio Cameli
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware 150 Academy Street Newark Delaware 19716 USA
| | - Panagiotis Dimitrakellis
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware 150 Academy Street Newark Delaware 19716 USA
- Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation, RAPID Manufacturing Institute, Delaware Energy Institute (DEI), University of Delaware 221 Academy St. Newark Delaware 19716 USA
| | - Dionisios G Vlachos
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware 150 Academy Street Newark Delaware 19716 USA
- Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation, RAPID Manufacturing Institute, Delaware Energy Institute (DEI), University of Delaware 221 Academy St. Newark Delaware 19716 USA
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Electrified Hydrogen Production from Methane for PEM Fuel Cells Feeding: A Review. ENERGIES 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/en15103588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
The greatest challenge of our times is to identify low cost and environmentally friendly alternative energy sources to fossil fuels. From this point of view, the decarbonization of industrial chemical processes is fundamental and the use of hydrogen as an energy vector, usable by fuel cells, is strategic. It is possible to tackle the decarbonization of industrial chemical processes with the electrification of systems. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the latest research on the electrification of endothermic industrial chemical processes aimed at the production of H2 from methane and its use for energy production through proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). In particular, two main electrification methods are examined, microwave heating (MW) and resistive heating (Joule), aimed at transferring heat directly on the surface of the catalyst. For cases, the catalyst formulation and reactor configuration were analyzed and compared. The key aspects of the use of H2 through PEM were also analyzed, highlighting the most used catalysts and their performance. With the information contained in this review, we want to give scientists and researchers the opportunity to compare, both in terms of reactor and energy efficiency, the different solutions proposed for the electrification of chemical processes available in the recent literature. In particular, through this review it is possible to identify the solutions that allow a possible scale-up of the electrified chemical process, imagining a distributed production of hydrogen and its consequent use with PEMs. As for PEMs, in the review it is possible to find interesting alternative solutions to platinum with the PGM (Platinum Group Metal) free-based catalysts, proposing the use of Fe or Co for PEM application.
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Chen TY, Baker-Fales M, Goyal H, Vlachos DG. Microwave Heating-Induced Temperature Gradients in Liquid–Liquid Biphasic Systems. Ind Eng Chem Res 2022. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.1c04859] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Tai-Ying Chen
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, 150 Academy Street, Newark, Delaware 19716, United States
| | - Montgomery Baker-Fales
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, 150 Academy Street, Newark, Delaware 19716, United States
| | - Himanshu Goyal
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600036, India
| | - Dionisios G. Vlachos
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, 150 Academy Street, Newark, Delaware 19716, United States
- Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation, RAPID Manufacturing Institute, and Delaware Energy Institute (DEI), University of Delaware, 221 Academy Street, Newark, Delaware 19716, United States
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