In the present work, the effects of operating conditions in a catalytic packed bed membrane reactor were investigated with the reactant gases H 2 and CO flowing through the membrane tube, and an inert gas N 2 flowing on the outside. The reaction under study was methanol synthesis with BASF catalyst, and a gamma-alumina membrane with a nominal pore size of 40 A was used.;Preliminary experiments were carried out in the membrane reactor without any catalyst inside membrane to characterize it in terms of its flux, permeance, and selectivity of H2 over CO. Experiments were carried out in the packed bed membrane reactor to study the effects of these conditions on the conversion. A mathematical model was developed for the reactor. Experiments with similar operating conditions were then carried out in the packed bed tubular reactor. Finally, results of comparison of the two reactors were discussed with recommendations for further studies.
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