Adding microsized silica particles to the catalysis/ultrafiltration system: Catalyst dissolution inhibition and flux enhancement

A system combining catalytic reaction with crossflow ultrafiltration (UF) was used to catalytic ammoximation of cyclohexanone to the oxime over titanium silicalite-1 (TS-1) catalysts. The effect of microsized silica particles on the performance of the catalysis/UF system was investigated in terms of catalytic activity and membrane filterability through dissolution and ultrafiltration experiments. Adding silica particles in the system inhibits the dissolution of TS-1 catalysts and increases both the reaction conversion and the selectivity significantly. Further characterizations (XRF, XRD, FTIR, etc.) indicated that the presence of silica particles remarkably limits the ammonia damage to the microstructure frame of TS-1 catalyst. In addition, silica particles play an important role in substantially removing the deposited TS-1 cake from the membrane surface, benefiting from the scouring effect. According to the results of visual observation to the tested membranes and the estimation of hydrodynamic forces acting on particles, microsized particles are hard to deposit on the membrane surface at the studied conditions and therefore a flux improvement has been achieved.