Innovative non–oxidative methane dehydroaromatization via solar membrane reactor

Abstract A novel solar–driven Non–Oxidative Methane Dehydroaromatization (NO–MDA) system integrated with membrane reactor is proposed in this study. NO–MDA driven by solar energy is a promising method to directly product benzene and pure hydrogen, in which solar thermal energy is converted into chemical energy. In this study, kinetic and thermodynamic analyses of NO–MDA via hydrogen permeation membrane (HPM) reactor were conducted based on numerical simulation. The partial pressure, conversion rate and thermodynamic efficiency under different temperatures (600–800 °C) and separation pressures (0.01–1 bar) were studied and analyzed. Pure hydrogen and a near complete conversion rate (99.9%) are theoretically obtained due to the separation of hydrogen via HPM reactor, which shifts the reaction equilibrium forward for higher conversion rate. The first–law thermodynamic efficiency, the solar–to–fuel efficiency, and the exergy efficiency can reach as high as 85.89%, 33.72%, and 88.12%, respectively. This study exhibits the feasibility of efficient NO–MDA via HPM reactor driven by solar energy.