CO2 utilization as an oxidant in the dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene to styrene over MnO2-ZrO2 catalysts

MnO₂-ZrO₂ binary oxide catalytic system was applied for the effective utilization of CO₂ as an oxidant in the ethylbenzene dehydrogenation (EBD) to styrene monomer (SM). MnO₂-ZrO₂ oxides were prepared by co-precipitation method and characterized as solid solution mixture having surface area more than 100² g⁻¹. 10% MnO₂-ZrO₂ mixed oxide catalyst exhibited conversion of 73% with the selectivity of 98% at 650 °C. The MnO₂-ZrO₂ binary oxides were X-ray amorphous whereas the individual oxides (MnO₂ and ZrO₂) having much lower surface areas were crystalline in nature. As a result, MnO₂-ZrO₂ binary oxides exhibited greatly elevated catalytic activity for the conversion of ethylbenzene (EB) than those of individual oxides in the presence of CO₂. However, in the absence of CO₂ poor catalytic activity and stabilities were observed. Gradual enhancement of activities were demonstrated in the higher CO₂ to EB ratios. Hence, CO₂ had a profound role as a soft oxidant by improving both activity and stability in the EBD over MnO₂-ZrO₂ mixed oxide catalysts.     

Dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene with carbon dioxide over MgO-modified Al2O3-supported V–Sb oxide catalysts

Alumina-supported V_0.43Sb_0.57 oxide (VSb/Al) and MgO-modified alumina-supported V_0.43Sb_0.57 oxide catalysts (VSb/Mg_nAl with Mg/Al atomic ratio, n = 0.1, 0.3 or 0.5) have been tested for the dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene with carbon dioxide as an oxidant. Their catalytic behaviors were interpreted by results of several catalyst characterization methods. The decrease in the surface acidity of the VSb/Mg_nAl catalysts due to modification of alumina with MgO favors the prolonged time-on-stream activities. However, the addition of relatively large amounts of MgO (n = 0.3 or 0.5) causes substantial decrease in their surface areas, reducibility of active vanadium oxide component and, consequently, ethylbenzene conversion. These negative factors did not become apparent for the most efficient VSb/Mg_0.1Al system demonstrating high and stable catalytic activity.     

Dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene over iron oxide-based catalyst in the presence of carbon dioxide

The energy required for a new process using CO₂ for the dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene to produce styrene was estimated to be much lower than that of the present commercial process using steam. A Fe/Ca/Al oxides catalyst was found to exhibit high performance in the dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene in the presence of CO₂. And the deactivation of the Fe/Ca/Al oxides catalyst was restrained by the action of CO₂.     

Promoting effects of CO2 on dehydrogenation of propane over a SiO2-supported Cr2O3 catalyst

The effects of carbon dioxide on the dehydrogenation of C₃H₈ to produce C₃H₆ were investigated over several Cr₂O₃ catalysts supported on Al₂O₃, active carbon and SiO₂. Carbon dioxide exerted promoting effects only on SiO₂-supported Cr₂O₃ catalysts. The promoting effects of carbon dioxide over a Cr₂O₃/SiO₂ catalyst were to enhance the yield of C₃H₆ and to suppress the catalyst deactivation.     

Effect of carbon dioxide as oxidant in dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene over alumina-supported vanadium–antimony oxide catalyst

The dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene over alumina-supported vanadium–antimony oxide catalyst has been studied under different atmospheres such as inert nitrogen, steam, oxygen and carbon dioxide as diluent or oxidant. Among them, the addition of CO₂ gave the highest styrene yield (up to 82%) and styrene selectivity (up to 97%) along with stable catalytic performance. Carbon dioxide plays a beneficial role as a selective oxidant in improving the catalytic behavior through the oxidative pathway.     

Utilization of carbon dioxide as soft oxidant for oxydehydrogenation of ethylbenzene to styrene over V2O5–CeO2/TiO2–ZrO2 catalyst

Vanadium oxide and cerium oxide doped titania–zirconia mixed oxides were explored for oxidative dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene to styrene utilizing carbon dioxide as a soft oxidant. The investigated TiO₂–ZrO₂ mixed oxide support with high specific surface area (207 m² g⁻¹) was synthesized by a coprecipitation method. Over the calcined support (550 °C), a monolayer equivalent (15 wt.%) of V₂O₅, CeO₂ or a combination of both were deposited by using wet-impregnation or co-impregnation methods to make the V₂O₅/TiO₂–ZrO₂, CeO₂/TiO₂–ZrO₂ and V₂O₅–CeO₂/TiO₂–ZrO₂ combination catalysts, respectively. These catalysts were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), temperature preprogrammed reduction (TPR), CO₂ temperature preprogrammed desorption (TPD) and BET surface area methods. All characterization studies revealed that the deposited promoter oxides are in a highly dispersed form over the support, and the combined acid–base and redox properties of the catalysts play a major role in this reaction. The V₂O₅–CeO₂/TiO₂–ZrO₂ catalyst exhibited a better conversion and product selectivity than other combinations. In particular, the addition of CeO₂ to V₂O₅/TiO₂–ZrO₂ prevented catalyst deactivation and helped to maintain a high and stable catalytic activity.     

Catalytic dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene with carbon dioxide: promotional effect of antimony in supported vanadium–antimony oxide catalyst

Alumina-supported vanadium oxide, VO_x/Al₂O₃, and binary vanadium–antimony oxides, VSbO_x/Al₂O₃, have been tested in the ethylbenzene dehydrogenation with carbon dioxide and characterized by S_BET, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, hydrogen temperature-programmed reduction and CO₂ pulse methods. VSbO_x/Al₂O₃ exhibited enhanced catalytic activity and especially on-stream stability compared to VO_x/Al₂O₃ catalyst. Incorporation of antimony into VO_x/Al₂O₃ increased dispersion of active VO_x species, enhanced redox properties of the systems and formed a new mixed vanadium–antimony oxide phase in the most catalytically efficient V_0.43Sb_0.57O_x/Al₂O₃ system.     

Oxidative dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene to styrene with CO2 over SnO2–ZrO2 mixed oxide nanocomposite catalysts

SnO₂–ZrO₂ nanocomposite catalysts with different compositions ranging from 0 to 100% of SnO₂ were prepared at room temperature by co-precipitation method using aqueous ammonia as a hydrolyzing agent. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopic characterization revealed the SnO₂–ZrO₂ nanocomposite behavior. Acid–base properties of these catalysts were ascertained by temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) of NH₃ and CO₂. Both acidic and basic sites distribution of the nanocomposite catalysts is quite different from those of respective single oxides (SnO₂ or ZrO₂). Catalytic activity of these nanocomposite catalysts for ethylbenzene dehydrogenation (EBD) to styrene in the presence of excess CO₂ was evaluated. The change in the acid–base bi-functionality of the nanocomposite catalysts in comparison with single oxides had profound positive influence in enhancing the catalytic activity.     

Polyethercarbonate-silica nanocomposites synthesized by copolymerization of allyl glycidyl ether with CO2 followed by sol-gel process

The catalyst system consisting of Y(CF₃CO₂)₃, Zn(Et)₂, and pyrogallol in the solvent of 1,3-dioxolane was found to be effective for the copolymerization of allyl glycidyl ether with carbon dioxide at 60 °C and 400 psi. The IR, ¹H-NMR, and ¹³C-NMR spectra as well as the element analysis indicated that the resulting copolymer was an alternating polyethercarbonate with the carbonate content higher than 97.5%. The resulting polyethercarbonate could react with 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate via a free radical reaction to generate the alkoxysilane-containing copolymer precursors that were used in the subsequent sol-gel process to result in the polyethercarbonate-silica nanocomposite. The generated nanocomposite was characterized by ¹³C-NMR, ²⁹Si-NMR, SEM, DSC, TGA, ESCA, and UV-Vis. The mechanical properties were also measured. A good compatibility between polyethercarbonate and silica and a SiO₂ network with silica particles less than 100 nm in the nanocomposite were observed. Both the thermal and mechanical properties of the resulting polyethercarbonate-silica nanocomposite were found to enhance with silica content. The optical transparency of the generated nanocomposite was comparable to that of the based polyethercarbonate.     

Effect of ceria on the structure and catalytic activity of V2O5/TiO2–ZrO2 for oxidehydrogenation of ethylbenzene to styrene utilizing CO2 as soft oxidant

The present study was undertaken to investigate the influence of ceria on the physicochemical and catalytic properties of V₂O₅/TiO₂–ZrO₂ for oxidative dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene to styrene utilizing CO₂ as a soft oxidant. Monolayer equivalents of ceria, vanadia and ceria–vanadia combination over TiO₂–ZrO₂ (TZ) support were impregnated by a coprecipitation and wet impregnation methods. Synthesized catalysts were characterized by using X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, temperature programmed reduction, transmission electron microscopy and BET surface area methods. The XRD profiles of 550 °C calcined samples revealed amorphous nature of the materials. Upon increasing calcination temperature to 750 °C, in addition to ZrTiO₄ peaks, few other lines due to ZrV₂O₇ and CeVO₄ were observed. The XPS V 2p results revealed the existence of V⁴⁺ and V⁵⁺ species at 550 and 750 °C calcinations temperatures, respectively. TEM analysis suggested the presence of nanosized (<7 nm) particles with narrow range distribution. Raman measurements confirmed the formation ZrTiO₄ under high temperature treatments. TPR measurements suggested a facile reduction of CeO₂–V₂O₅/TZ sample. Among various samples evaluated, the CeO₂–V₂O₅/TZ sample exhibited highest conversion and nearly 100% product selectivity. In particular, the addition of ceria to V₂O₅/TZ suppressed the coke deposition and allowed a stable and high catalytic activity.     

Separation of CO2 from flue gas using electrochemical cells

Past research with high temperature molten carbonate electrochemical cells has shown that carbon dioxide can be separated from flue gas streams produced by pulverized coal combustion for power generation. However, the presence of trace contaminants, i.e., sulfur dioxide and nitric oxides, will impact the electrolyte within the cell. If a lower temperature cell could be devised that would utilize the benefits of commercially-available, upstream desulfurization and denitrification in the power plant, then this CO₂ separation technique can approach more viability in the carbon sequestration area. Recent work has led to the assembly and successful operation of a low temperature electrochemical cell. In the proof-of-concept testing with this cell, an anion exchange membrane was sandwiched between gas-diffusion electrodes consisting of nickel-based anode electrocatalysts on carbon paper. When a potential was applied across the cell and a mixture of oxygen and carbon dioxide was flowed over the wetted electrolyte on the cathode side, a stream of CO₂ to O₂ was produced on the anode side, suggesting that carbonate/bicarbonate ions are the CO₂ carrier in the membrane. Since a mixture of CO₂ and O₂ is produced, the possibility exists to use this stream in oxy-firing of additional fuel.From this research, a novel concept for efficiently producing a carbon dioxide rich effluent from combustion of a fossil fuel was proposed. Carbon dioxide and oxygen are captured from the flue gas of a fossil-fuel combustor by one or more electrochemical cells or cell stacks. The separated stream is then transferred to an oxy-fired combustor which uses the gas stream for ancillary combustion, ultimately resulting in an effluent rich in carbon dioxide. A portion of the resulting flow produced by the oxy-fired combustor may be continuously recycled back into the oxy-fired combustor for temperature control and an optimal carbon dioxide rich effluent.     

Microbial inactivation of paprika using high-pressure CO2

Herein, we describe the use of high-pressure CO₂ for the inactivation of the natural bio-burden of paprika and an evaluation of its effects on product quality. The treatments were carried out with a continuous flow of CO₂ through a bed of paprika, varying the initial moisture (<35%), pressure (60-300 bar), temperature (<95 °C) and exposure time (10-150 min). Comparison was made with thermal treatment at the same temperature and moisture levels to isolate the effects of the CO₂. It was difficult to achieve a total elimination of the highly resistant spores due to the low water activity of the medium. The paprika did not appear to exert a protective effect. Neither the use of techniques to improve the CO₂-paprika contact nor pressure cycling had any effect. The most influential parameters were the initial water content and temperature, presumably due to their contributions to the activation/germination of spores, making these microbes vulnerable to CO₂ attack. However, we found that their values should be kept under 25-30% and 85-90 °C, respectively, to avoid a loss of product quality. Pressure could be maintained at relatively low levels (60-100 bar) because it did not significantly contribute to any of the possible CO₂ sporicidal mechanisms and at higher values caused oleoresin extraction. Under these conditions, treatment times on the order of 30-45 min were sufficient to achieve the disinfection and total count reduction required by the most exigent clients. The treated paprika retained its colour category and its final humidity was within the legal levels for secure storage. Therefore, the method could be a useful alternative to traditional moist-heat treatments or hydrostatic processes.     

One-pot terpolymerization of CO2, cyclohexene oxide and maleic anhydride using a highly active heterogeneous double metal cyanide complex catalyst

This paper describes a convenient one-pot terpolymerization of CO₂, cyclohexene oxide (CHO) and maleic anhydride (MAH) to afford a poly (ester-carbonate) with a low content of ether units (2.9-4.3 mol%) using a highly active Zn-Co(III) double metal cyanide complex (DMCC) catalyst. Terpolymerization was carried out in tetrahydrofuran (THF) at 75-90 °C and 1.0-4.0 MPa and no cyclic carbonate was observed in NMR spectra. The number-average molecular weight (M_n) of the terpolymer was up to 14.1 kg/mol with a narrow molecular weight distribution of 1.4-1.7. The apparent efficiency of the catalyst was up to 12.7 kg polymer/g Zn, representing the highest catalytic activity for terpolymerization of CO₂, epoxides and cyclic anhydrides to date. THF dramatically inhibited polyether formation in this terpolymerization owing to its nucleophilicity towards the Zn²⁺ center of Zn-Co (III) DMCC. This presents the first example of solvent-assisted selectivity for inhibiting ether units in CO₂ polymerization catalyzed by a heterogeneous system. Kinetic analyses of MAH/CHO/CO₂ terpolymerization (MAH/CHO 0.2) suggested that polyester production was slightly faster than polycarbonate production in the early stage. A mechanism for this terpolymerization catalyzed by Zn-Co (III) DMCC catalyst was proposed. Moreover, addition of small amounts of MAH (MAH/CHO molar ratio ≤0.2) during CO₂/CHO copolymerization can improve the thermal properties of the resultant terpolymers.     

CO2 capture using some fly ash-derived carbon materials

Adsorption is considered to be one of the more promising technologies for capturing CO₂ from flue gases. For post-combustion capture, the success of such an approach is however dependent on the development of an adsorbent that can operate competitively at relatively high temperatures. In this work, low cost carbon materials derived from fly ash, are presented as effective CO₂ sorbents through impregnation these with organic bases, for example, polyethylenimine aided by polyethylene glycol. The results show that for samples derived from a fly ash carbon concentrate, the CO₂ adsorption capacities were relatively high (up to 4.5 wt%) especially at high temperatures (75 °C), where commercial active carbons relying on physi-sorption have low capacities. The addition of PEG improves the adsorption capacity and reduces the time taken for the sample to reach the equilibrium. No CO₂ seems to remain after desorption, suggesting that the process is fully reversible.     

Stripper configurations for CO2 capture by aqueous monoethanolamine

Absorption/stripping with amine solvents is a practical tail end technology for CO₂ capture from coal-fired power plants. One of the inhibiting costs of this technology is the energy requirement for solvent regeneration in the stripper, but novel configurations can help reduce this requirement by making the process more reversible. This work looked at several configurations with varying levels of complexity to determine the most useful method for arranging process units. Evaluated configurations included multi-stage flash, multi-pressure columns, and advanced stripping columns. Using a higher number of pressure stages, packing in place of equilibrium flashes, and vapor recompression were all reasonable methods to reduce the overall equivalent work requirement, but the most significant improvement was seen with an interheated column. The interheated column and simple stripper required 33.4 kJ/mol CO₂ and 35.0 kJ/mol CO₂ of work, respectively, at their optimum lean loadings.     

Copolymerization of CO2 and propylene oxide under rare earth ternary catalyst: design of ligand in yttrium complex

Copolymerization of carbon dioxide and propylene oxide was carried out employing (RC₆H₄COO)₃Y/glycerin/ZnEt₂ (R=-H, -CH₃, -NO₂, -OH) ternary catalyst systems. The feature of yttrium carboxylates (ligand, substituent and its position on the aromatic ring) is of great importance in the final copolymerization. Appropriate design of substituent and position of the ligand in benzoate-based yttrium complex can adjust the microstructure of aliphatic polycarbonate in a moderate degree, where the head-to-tail linkage in the copolymer is adjustable from 68.4 to 75.4%. The steric factor of the ligand in the yttrium complex is crucial for the molecular weight distribution of the copolymer, probably due to the fact that the substituent at 2 and 4-position would disturb the coordination or insertion of the monomer, lead the copolymer with broad molecular distribution. Based on the study of ultraviolet-visible spectra of the ternary catalyst in various solvents, it seems that the absorption band at 240-255 nm be closely related to the active species of the rare earth ternary catalysts.     

CO2 reforming of CH4 over nanocrystalline zirconia-supported nickel catalysts

Mesoporous nanocrystalline zirconia with high-surface area and pure tetragonal crystalline phase has been prepared by the surfactant-assisted route, using Pluronic P123 block copolymer surfactant. The synthesized zirconia showed a surface area of 174 m² g⁻¹ after calcination at 700 °C for 4 h. The prepared zirconia was employed as a support for nickel catalysts in dry reforming reaction. It was found that these catalysts possessed a mesoporous structure and even high-surface area. The activity results indicated that the nickel catalyst showed stable activity for syngas production with a decrease of about 4% in methane conversion after 50 h of reaction. Addition of promoters (CeO₂, La₂O₃ and K₂O) to the catalyst improved both the activity and stability of the nickel catalyst, without any decrease in methane conversion after 50 h of reaction.     

Energy saving in a CO2 capture plant by MEA scrubbing

The most commonly used process for the CO₂ capture is absorption by means of chemical solvents such as alkanolamines. This consolidated technology can be applied to CO₂ removal from natural gas, refinery gas, and exhaust gas of power plants.This paper focuses on CO₂ capture from exhaust gas by absorption with monoethanolamine (MEA).A commercial simulation software, namely Aspen Plus^®, is used, with Electrolyte-NRTL thermodynamic package where ad hoc parameters, obtained from regression of experimental solubility data for the system CO₂-MEA-H₂O, have been implemented.The comparison among different schemes is based on energy saving. Both the reboiler heat duty and the total equivalent work (which sums up every work and heat contribution in the purification section) are considered as criteria for comparison.     

Monolithic-like TiO2 nanotube supported Ru catalyst for activation of CH4 and CO2 to syngas

Highly-ordered TiO₂ nanotube arrays (TiNTA) were prepared by an electrochemical anodization method and used as the carrier material to load 1 wt.% Ru. The Ru/TiNTA catalyst was then applied to the combination reactions of the partial oxidation of methane reaction (POM) with the carbon dioxide reforming with methane reaction (CRM) for syngas production. In comparison with the commercial TiO₂ powder (P25) supported 1 wt.% Ru catalyst, Ru/TiNTA shows higher activity and much better stability. The superior performance of Ru/TiNTA is attributed to the specific monolithic-like structure and confinement effect of TiNTA.