Iron oxide-based honeycomb catalysts for the dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene to styrene

Corning has recently developed a novel extrusion method to make bulk transition metal oxide honeycomb catalysts. One area of effort has been iron oxide-based catalysts for the dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene to styrene, a major chemical process that yields worldwide 20 MM tons/yr. In industry, the monomer is synthesized mostly in radial-flow fixed-bed reactors. Because of the high cross-sectional area for flow and shallow depth of the catalyst bed in these reactors, low reactor pressure gradients are maintained that favors the yield and selectivity for styrene formation. However, the radial-flow design has inherent detractions, including inefficient use of reactor volume and large temperature gradients that decrease catalyst service life. The overall economics of the process can be improved with parallel-channel honeycomb catalysts and axial flow reactors. The simple axial flow design of honeycomb catalysts provides low-pressure drop, while making more efficient use of reactor volume, with better heat and mass transfer characteristics compared to a conventional radial packed bed. An important part of this concept is the ability to fabricate a wide family of dehydrogenation catalyst compositions into honeycombs with the requisite chemical, physical, mechanical, and catalytic properties for industrial use. The ethylbenzene dehydrogenation (EBD) honeycomb catalysts developed by Corning have compositions similar to those commonly used in industry and are prepared with the same catalyst and promoter precursors and with similar treatments.

However, to enable extrusion of catalyst precursors into honeycomb shapes, especially at cell densities above 100 cell/in.², Corning’s process compensates for the high salt concentrations and the high pH of the batch material that would otherwise prevent or impede honeycomb extrusion. The improved rheological characteristics provide the necessary plasticity, lubricity, and resiliency for honeycomb extrusion with sufficient binder strength needed before calcination to the final product. Iron oxide-based honeycombs after calcination are strong and possess macroporosity and high surface area. In bench-scale testing, particular honeycomb catalyst compositions exhibited 60–76% ethylbenzene conversion with styrene selectivity of 95–91%, respectively, under conventional reaction conditions without apparent deactivation or loss of mechanical integrity.     

Production of gasoline range hydrocarbons from catalytic reaction of methane in the presence of ethylene over W/HZSM-5

The catalytic conversion of a methane and ethylene mixture to gasoline range hydrocarbons has been studied over W/HZSM-5 catalyst. The effect of process variables, such as temperature, percentage of volume of ethylene in the methane stream and catalyst loading on the distribution of hydrocarbons was studied. The reaction was conducted in a fixed-bed quartz-micro reactor in the temperature range of 300–500 °C using percentage of volume of ethylene in methane stream between 25 and 75% and catalyst loading of 0.2–0.4 g. The catalyst showed good catalytic performance yielding hydrocarbons consisting of gaseous products along with gasoline range liquid products. The mixed feed stream can be converted to higher hydrocarbons containing a high-liquid gasoline product selectivity (>42%). Non-aromatics C₅–C₁₀ hydrocarbons selectivity in the range of 12–53% was observed at the operating conditions studied. Design of experiment was employed to determine the optimum conditions for maximum liquid hydrocarbon products. The distribution of the gasoline range hydrocarbons (C₅–C₁₀ non-aromatics and aromatics hydrocarbons) was also determined for the optimum conditions.     

Palladium–sulfated zirconium pillared montmorillonite: Catalytic evaluation in light naphtha hydroisomerization reaction

The present work is an evaluation of 1 wt.% Pd/sulfated zirconium pillared montmorillonite catalyst in the hydroisomerization reaction of two fractions of light naphtha composed mainly of C₅ and C₆ paraffins (feeds 1 and 2). Catalyst activity test was carried out in a fixed-bed flow reactor at reaction temperature of 300 °C, under atmospheric hydrogen pressure and weight hourly space velocity of 0.825 h⁻¹.

The reaction products showed high isomer and cyclane selectivity. Monobranched and multibranched isomers were formed as well as C5 and C6 cyclane products. After the catalytic reaction, the total amount of benzene and cyclohexane decreased by 30% for the “feed 1” and by 40% for the “feed 2” leading to methylcyclopentane formation in the products. A long-term performance test catalyst for the two light naphtha fractions was also performed and we observed an improving of the research octane number (RON) by 15–17 for, respectively, feeds 1 and 2.     

高岭土附晶ZSM-5分子筛的合成及对正丁烷催化裂解性能

以高岭土微球为基体,在水热体系中成功地附晶生长了ZSM-5分子筛,并采用XRD、SEM、NH3-TPD和BET等测试手段对催化剂进行表征,考察高岭土附晶ZSM-5分子筛和对比催化剂在固定床微反装置上催化裂解正丁烷性能.结果表明,实验合成的高岭土附晶ZSM-5分子筛催化剂在正丁烷的催化裂解中具有更高的乙烯选择性,乙烯选择...     

Comparison of different reactor types for low temperature Fischer-Tropsch synthesis: A simulation study

The commercially established slurry bubble column and fixed-bed reactors for low temperature Fischer-Tropsch synthesis were compared with novel micro- and monolith-reactors by mathematical modeling. Special attention was paid to the influence of catalytic activity on the reactor efficiency and the losses by mass and heat transfer resistances. The simulation results show that a micro-structured reactor exhibits the highest productivity per unit of catalyst volume followed by slurry bubble column reactor and monolith reactor. The fixed-bed reactor that was assumed to operate in the trickle-flow regime has a particularly low catalyst specific productivity due to severe mass transfer resistances. However, caused by a very low ratio of catalyst and reactor volume the micro-reactor has only a similarly low productivity per unit of reactor volume as the fixed-bed reactor. In contrast, the reactor specific productivity of slurry bubble column reactor and monolith reactor is up to one order of magnitude higher.     

Effects of Supports and Promoter Ag on Pd Catalysts for Selective Hydrogenation of Acetylene

SiO2, a-Al2O3, g-Al2O3, ZrO2 and CeO2 were used as supports and Ag as promoter to study their effects on Pd catalysts for selective hydrogenation of acetylene. The catalysts were prepared by impregnated synthesis and characterized by XRD, BET and TEM. The catalytic reaction was carried out in a fixed-bed reactor. Overall, the low specific surface area supports were better to increase the ethylene selectivity at high conversion rate of acetylene. Among the four Pd catalysts on low specific surface area supports, the catalyst on low specific surface area SiO2 (LSA-SiO2) retained a high ethylene selectivity even at complete conversion, while the other catalysts showed significant decrease in the selectivity at complete conversion. The performance of Pd/LSA-SiO2 was important to decrease the loss of ethylene in selective hydrogenation of trace acetylene in ethylene. Addition of Ag to Pd/LSA-SiO2 significantly decreased the formation of ethane, C4 alkenes and green oil, and improved the ethylene selectivity to 90% when Pd:Ag=1:1 and 1:3(w). When the ratio of Pd to Ag was above 1, the activity of Pd-Ag bimetallic catalyst was similar to that of Pd monometallic catalyst, and the selectivity of ethylene increased with increasing of amount of Ag. When the ratio of Pd to Ag was below 1, the activity of bimetallic catalyst decreased with increasing of amount of Ag, while the selectivity of ethylene was kept unchanged. The optimum temperature was 200~230℃ for 0.02%(w)Pd-0.02%(w)Ag/LSA-SiO2 to give a high ethylene selectivity and low formation of green oil.     

国产钨基催化剂在烯烃歧化制丙烯工业侧线装置上的性能研究

针对丁烯和乙烯歧化增产丙烯技术(OCT技术)所用进口BASF催化剂价格昂贵、运输条件苛刻等情况,自主研发了钨基歧化催化剂,并在实验室小试装置和OCT工业侧线固定床反应器上,考察了该催化剂在OCT技术制备丙烯过程中的催化性能。结果表明,1-丁烯的异构化率和丙烯的选择性均随反应温度的升高和乙烯、丁烯摩尔比的增加而逐渐增加,自主研发催化剂的催化活性和进口催化剂相当,且催化剂稳定性良好,可连续运行400 h以上。     

Honeycomb supports with high thermal conductivity for gas/solid chemical processes

The scope of this review article is to address the use of novel monolithic catalysts with high thermal conductivity in externally cooled tubular reactors for gas/solid exothermic chemical processes in place of conventional packed beds of catalyst pellets.

After discussing the analysis and the implications of heat conduction in honeycomb monolith structures, we review herein simulation studies and experimental investigations showing that near-isothermal reactor operation can be achieved even under very high thermal loads by adopting specific materials and designs of the honeycomb supports associated with high effective radial thermal conductivities. For such monoliths, the limiting thermal resistance is located at the interface between the monolith and the inner tube wall (“gap resistance”). Recent measurements of the “gap” heat transfer coefficient point to very large values (>400 W/(m² K)), which are controlled both by the tube–monolith clearance at the actual operating conditions and by the thermal conductivity of the process gas.     

Gas-liquid and gas-liquid-solid reactors for the alkylation of benzene with propylene

This work deals with the mathematic models and improvement of four kinds of gas-liquid and gas-liquid-solid reactors for producing cumene by catalytic reaction, i.e., fixed-bed reactor, fixed-bed catalytic distillation (FCD) column, suspension catalytic distillation (SCD) column and ionic-liquid catalytic distillation (ICD) column. The fixed-bed reactor was improved by changing the particle diameter of catalyst and no extra equipment was needed. The FCD and SCD columns were, respectively, improved by carrying out alkylation and transalkylation simultaneously in a column, which also may hold for the ICD column, in which, however, the conductor-like screening model for real solvents (COSMO-RS) was used to take into account the influence of ionic liquid on vapor-liquid equilibrium (VLE).     

Producing ethylene and propylene from natural gas via the intermediate synthesis of methyl chloride and its subsequent catalytic pyrolysis

An original two-stage process for producing ethylene and propylene from natural gas via the catalytic pyrolysis of methyl chloride produced by methane catalytic chlorination is investigated. The kinetics of the methyl chloride catalytic pyrolysis on a silicoaluminophosphate catalyst SAPO-34 is studied and the process parameters are determined, yielding selectivities of 45% and 35% for ethylene and propylene, respectively, at 70% conversion of methyl chloride. The kinetics of methane oxidative chlorination is investigated on a catalyst that is a mixture of copper, potassium, and lanthanum chlorides deposited on a carrier. Based on the results from kinetic investigations, the process of methane oxidative chlorination is tested on an experimental setup in reactors of different types, two with fluidized catalyst beds (diameters 400 and 45 mm) and one tubular (diameter 27 mm), and on a pilot setup in a two-stage adiabatic reactor (diameter 800 mm). The process is tested with oxygen supply distributed for each stage at temperatures of 300–320°C at the inlet and 400–420°C at the outlet of the catalyst bed. The selectivity for methyl chloride formation among chloromethanes is 90%. A basic scheme is developed for a chlorine-balanced process of ethylene and propylene production from natural gas, and conditions for conducting methane oxychlorination and methyl chloride pyrolysis reactions in industrial reactors are determined. The process can be implemented at plants that need ethylene to increase deliveries of vinyl chloride and are experienced in working with hydrochloric acid and chlorinated derivatives of hydrocarbons.     

Fatty methyl ester hydrogenation to fatty alcohol part I: Correlation between catalyst properties and activity/selectivity

Fatty alcohols, derived from natural sources, are commercially produced by hydrogenation of fatty acids or methyl esters in slurry-phase or fixed-bed reactors. One slurry-phase hydrogenation of methyl ester process flows methyl esters and powdered copper chromite catalyst into tubular reactors under high hydrogen pressure and elevated temperature. In the present investigation, slurry-phase hydrogenations of C₁₂ methyl ester were carried out in semi-batch reactions at nonoptimal conditions (i.e., low hydrogen pressure and elevated temperature). These conditions were used to accentuate the host of side reactions that occur during the hydrogenation. Some 14 side reaction routes are outlined. As an extension of this study, copper chromite catalyst was produced under a number of varying calcination temperatures. Differences in catalytic activity and selectivity were determined by closely following side reaction products. Both activity and selectivity correlate well with the crystallinity of the copper chromite surface; they increase with decreasing crystallinity. The ability to follow the wide variety of side reactions may well provide an additional tool for the optimized design of hydrogenation catalysts.     

Application of heteropoly acid catalyst in an inert polymer membrane catalytic reactor in ethanol dehydration

The ethanol dehydration reaction was carried out in an inert membrane catalytic reactor. 12-Tungstophosporic acid as a catalyst and polysulfone as an inert membrane were used in this study. Ethanol conversion and ethylene selectivity were remarkably enhanced in comparison with those in a fixed-bed reactor under the same reaction condition.     

Co/ZrO2催化乙醇水蒸汽重整制氢反应的研究

采用浸渍-热分解-氢还原法制备Co/ZrO2催化剂,并用XRD、BET比表面、TPR、差热-热重等测试分析手段对该催化剂进行表征。采用固定床反应器考察了催化剂对乙醇水蒸汽重整制氢反应的催化性能。结果表明:700℃焙烧的ZrO2以单斜和四方相形式共存,负载Co后观察不到有四方相。3%Co/ZrO2催化剂对乙醇水蒸汽重整制氢反应表现出较高的活性。在500℃、水醇比为3∶1时,乙醇的转化率达到76.6%,H2的产率和选择性为0.57mol/mol和81.8%。反应温度升高,提高了乙醇的转化率和H2产率,同时也促进了催化剂表面的积炭。     

Numerical investigation of complex chemistry performing in Ptcatalyzed oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane fixed-bed reactors

Ethylene is one of the most important basic chemicals in the modern chemical industry. Thermal or catalytic cracking of hydrocarbons is the main industrial technologies nowadays, which suffer from equilibriumlimitation and rapid coke formation. The oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane (ODHE) is considered to be a promising alternative process since it overcomes equilibrium-limitations, avoids catalyst deactivation by coke formation, and decreases the number of side reactions. In this study, particle-resolved 2D CFD simulations of fixed-beds filled with eggshell catalysts coupled with micro-kinetics of Pt-catalyzed ODHE were performed to understand the effect of operation conditions and catalyst properties on ethylene selectivity. The catalyst bed was created by discrete element method (DEM) and the central longitudinal section of the reactor tube was defined as the 2D simulation region. Both of the homogeneous and catalytic heterogeneous chemical reactions were described by detailed micro-kinetics within the particle-resolved CFD simulation. At first, the established model of monolith reactors was verified by comparing the simulated results with experimental results reported in literature. Then, the effects of operation conditions and catalyst concentration on the ethylene selectivity in randomly packed beds were explored. The specific variation of certain operation conditions including inlet flow rate, inlet temperature, pressure, inlet C₂H₆/O₂ ratio and N₂ dilution ratio can effectively increase ethylene selectivity. And the reduction of ratio of catalytic active area to geometric area F_cat/geo representing catalyst properties from 140 to 30 increases the selectivity from 42.2% to 59.3%. This research can provide reference for the industrialization of ODHE process in the future.     

Assessment of micro-structured fixed-bed reactors for highly exothermic gas-phase reactions

The application of micro-structured fixed-bed reactors for highly exothermic partial oxidation reactions and their comparison to established multi-tubular fixed-bed reactors was investigated by numerical simulation. As examples, the partial oxidations of butane to maleic anhydride and of o-xylene to phthalic anhydride were chosen. The simulation results revealed that the reactor productivity, i.e. the amount of product per unit of reactor volume, achievable in micro-structured fixed-bed reactors is between 2.5 and 7 times higher than in conventional multi-tubular fixed-bed reactors without the danger of excessive pressure drop. For the partial oxidation of butane to maleic anhydride this can be explained by the increased reactor efficiency caused by lower efficiency losses through heat and mass transfer limitations. In addition, maleic anhydride selectivities and yields are higher in micro-structured fixed-bed reactors. In the case of o-xylene oxidation to phthalic anhydride the main advantage is that egg-shell catalysts in the conventional fixed-bed reactor can be replaced by bulk catalysts in the micro-structured fixed-bed reactor. For this reaction, product selectivities are very similar for all reactor configurations. Thus the catalyst inventory and reactor productivity are strongly increased. This study underlines, that micro-structured fixed-bed reactors exhibit the potential to intensify large scale industrial processes significantly.     

AF-5分子筛催化剂上苯气相乙基化反应的失活动力学研究——(Ⅰ)实验研究

在绝热固定床实验反应器中对苯和乙烯在 AF-5分子筛催化剂上进行的烷基化反应的失活动力学作了研究。初步考察表明乙烯和苯都会引起失活,但乙烯引起的失活是主要的。在和工业反应器类似的操作条件下系统测定了由催化剂失活引起的乙烯转化率随操作时间的变化。所得数据将用于建立失活动力学模型。     

磷改性ZSM-5分子筛催化裂解石脑油制丙烯的性能研究

以催化重整石脑油为原料,以水热处理磷改性HZSM-5为催化剂,在小型固定床反应装置上,考察了水热处理磷改性方法制备催化剂的催化裂解性能。结果表明,磷改性HZSM-5经水热处理后与未改性HZSM-5相比,水热稳定性明显改善,当磷负载量为3%wt时,PZSM-5具有较高的活性和丙烯选择性。催化裂解反应过程中选择适宜的工艺条件可有效的抑制副反应的发生。综合考虑丙烯及双烯收率,确定最佳的反应条件为:温度650℃,体积空速4h-1,水油体积比0.75,反应压力0.2MPa。     

糠醇加氢制1,2-戊二醇催化剂的制备及性能研究

采用化学共沉淀方法制备了铜氧化物催化剂FAH-1。在30 mL绝热微型固定床反应器上,研究了催化剂催化糠醇加氢制备1,2-戊二醇的性能,并对相关工艺条件进行了考察。实验结果表明：FAH-1催化剂表现出良好的糠醇加氢活性和选择性,在反应温度为160 ℃、反应压力为6 MPa、液时体积空速为0.3 h ^-1、氢油体积比为10 000∶1条件下,糠醇加氢反应的转化率和选择性分别为91.80%和41.52%,1,2-戊二醇单程收率达到38.12%,1 000 h长周期评价催化剂性能稳定。制得的1,2-戊二醇样品纯度高、质量好,满足后续加工对1,2-戊二醇的质量要求。反应过程采用固定床反应器,具有较好的工业化前景。     

DIRECT OXIDATION OF ETHYLENE TO ACETALDEHYDE IN A HOLLOW FIBER MEMBRANE REACTOR†

A hollow fiber membrane reactor, which resembles a tube-and-shell heat exchanger, was developed for homogeneous catalytic reactions with gas reactants and products. The gas stream flows through the tube side while the reaction takes place in the catalyst solution which fills the shell side. The separation load of product from the catalyst solution can be reduced by using a hollow fiber membrane reactor instead of a conventional bubble column reactor. The reactor operates in a plug-flow pattern with a large mass transfer area per unit volume of catalyst solution

This concept was investigated experimentally using the direct oxidation of ethylene to acetaldehyde reaction in an aqueous solution of palladium (H) chloride-cupric chloride with a silicone rubber membrane reactor and a polypropylene membrane reactor. It was experimentally demonstrated that membrane reactors could achieve higher production rates per unit volume of catalyst than the conventional sparged reactor. The experimental data were in good agreement with the predictions by the mathematical model. The conditions under which the membrane reactor will be more advantageous than the conventional sparged reactors can be readily ascertained with the analytical solution of the simplified membrane reactor model.