Synthesis of MTBE in zeolite membrane reactors Original Research Article

A zeolite membrane was employed to selectively remove water from the reaction atmosphere during the gas-phase synthesis of methyl-tert-butyl ether (MTBE) from tert-butanol and methanol. This reaction was carried out over a bed of Amberlyst™ 15 catalyst packed on the inside of a zeolite tubular membrane. The results obtained with different hydrophilic membranes (mordenite or NaA zeolite) are presented. Prior to reaction, the zeolite membranes were characterized by measuring their performance in the separation of the equilibrium mixture containing water, methanol, tert-butanol, MTBE and isobutene. The results obtained with zeolite membrane reactors (ZMR) were compared with those of a fixed bed reactor (FBR) under the same operating conditions. MTBE yields obtained with the ZMR at 334 K reached 67.6%, under conditions where the equilibrium value without product removal (FBR) would be 60.9%.