Dehydrogenation of Ethane to Ethylene by CO2 over Highly Dispersed Cr on Large-Pore Mesoporous Silica Catalysts

Advanced zeolite and ordered mesoporous silica-based catalysts for the conversion of CO2 to chemicals and fuels

For many years, capturing, storing or sequestering CO₂ from concentrated emission sources or from air has been a powerful technique for reducing atmospheric CO₂. Moreover, the use of CO₂ as a C1 building block to mitigate CO₂ emissions and, at the same time, produce sustainable chemicals or fuels is a challenging and promising alternative to meet global demand for chemicals and energy. Hence, the chemical incorporation and conversion of CO₂ into valuable chemicals has received much attention in the last decade, since CO₂ is an abundant, inexpensive, nontoxic, nonflammable, and renewable one-carbon building block. Nevertheless, CO₂ is the most oxidized form of carbon, thermodynamically the most stable form and kinetically inert. Consequently, the chemical conversion of CO₂ requires highly reactive, rich-energy substrates, highly stable products to be formed or harder reaction conditions. The use of catalysts constitutes an important tool in the development of sustainable chemistry, since catalysts increase the rate of the reaction without modifying the overall standard Gibbs energy in the reaction. Therefore, special attention has been paid to catalysis, and in particular to heterogeneous catalysis because of its environmentally friendly and recyclable nature attributed to simple separation and recovery, as well as its applicability to continuous reactor operations. Focusing on heterogeneous catalysts, we decided to center on zeolite and ordered mesoporous materials due to their high thermal and chemical stability and versatility, which make them good candidates for the design and development of catalysts for CO₂ conversion. In the present review, we analyze the state of the art in the last 25 years and the potential opportunities for using zeolite and OMS (ordered mesoporous silica) based materials to convert CO₂ into valuable chemicals essential for our daily lives and fuels, and to pave the way towards reducing carbon footprint. In this review, we have compiled, to the best of our knowledge, the different reactions involving catalysts based on zeolites and OMS to convert CO₂ into cyclic and dialkyl carbonates, acyclic carbamates, 2-oxazolidones, carboxylic acids, methanol, dimethylether, methane, higher alcohols (C₂₊OH), C₂₊ (gasoline, olefins and aromatics), syngas (RWGS, dry reforming of methane and alcohols), olefins (oxidative dehydrogenation of alkanes) and simple fuels by photoreduction. The use of advanced zeolite and OMS-based materials, and the development of new processes and technologies should provide a new impulse to boost the conversion of CO₂ into chemicals and fuels.

Development and Intensification of the Ethylene Process Utilizing a Catalytic Membrane Reactor

Ethylene is considered the most important petrochemical constituent in the world today. It is currently produced via the thermal cracking process, which is generally expensive. Ethane dehydrogenation (EDH) is endothermic, and the thermodynamic equilibrium limits its conversion. The present study explores the viability of using a catalytic membrane reactor (MR) for ethylene production from EDH. The removal of hydrogen from the reaction zone using a palladium-silver (Pd-Ag) membrane has led to a high shift in the equilibrium conversion. The effects of operating conditions and reactor configurations on the ethane conversion were investigated. The ultimate ethane conversion was 22.2% when using the MR at 660 K and 300 kPa. The ethane conversion in the shell-side of the reactor increased to ∼99% when benzene hydrogenation was added as an auxiliary reaction in the tube-side of the reactor. Two new processes for ethylene production were developed for an annual capacity of 100,000 metric tons. Cryogenic distillation was required to separate ethylene from ethane if there is no auxiliary reaction. On the other hand, the ethylene process with cyclohexane as a byproduct does not require a refrigeration cycle system, and its economic analysis shows a return on investment of 34.4%, indicating that the process is a promising technology.

Mesoporous Organo-Silica Supported Chromium Oxide Catalyst for Oxidative Dehydrogenation of Ethane to Ethylene with CO2

Chromium oxide supported on mesoporous organo-silica (MOS) was synthesized with different Cr loading by an incipient method. The catalytic performance of a Cr(x)/MOS catalyst for CO2-based ethane dehydrogenation was investigated. The synthesized catalysts were characterized by XRD, BET, TEM, SEM, XPS, FTIR, and UV–Vis DR measurements. The textural properties of the prepared samples showed that the mesoporous nature of MOS sample was not disturbed by chromium impregnation. Among the prepared samples, Cr(8)/MOS catalyst exhibited good distribution of chromium species along with superior concentration of Cr6+ and the highest recorded Cr6+/Cr3+ ratio. The results revealed that the superior catalytic performance was reached at Cr(8)/MOS, with 50.4% and 90.1% of ethane conversion and ethylene selectivity, respectively. The catalytic activity decreased slowly over reaction time; it declined approximately 22% after 10 h of stream operation. The roles of CO2-based ethane dehydrogenation were also studied, where carbon dioxide can be a source of lattice oxygen and as a hydrogen consumer in reverse water–gas shift (RWGS) reaction. The effect of various catalytic factors, such as catalytic temperature, reaction time, space gas velocity, and CO2 partial pressure on the conversion of ethane, yield, and selectivity to ethylene, were investigated as well.

Recent progress in heterogeneous metal and metal oxide catalysts for direct dehydrogenation of ethane and propane

Metal and metal oxide catalysts for non-oxidative ethane/propane dehydrogenation are outlined with respect to catalyst synthesis, structure–property relationship and catalytic mechanism.

Synthesis, Characterization and Catalytic Evaluation of Chromium Oxide Deposited on Titania–Silica Mesoporous Nanocomposite for the Ethane Dehydrogenation with CO2

Ti modification of mesoporous silica support has been reported as an effective way to enhance Cr–Ti–Si interactions that, in turn, impact the catalytic dehydrogenation of ethane with CO2. However, such modification necessitates a repeated, time-consuming and tedious process. In this work, a simple, fast and facile approach has been utilized to synthesize chromium-oxide-loaded titania–silica mesoporous nanocomposites. A series of Cr(y)/Ti(x)–Si mesoporous nanocomposite catalysts with varying Ti and Cr contents were prepared and tested in the dehydrogenation of ethane with carbon dioxide. The as-synthesized catalysts were characterized by XRD, TEM, SEM, BET, UV–Vis–DR, XPS and H2–TPR techniques. The effect of titanium content, as well as chromium loading on the performance of the prepared Cr(y)/Ti(x)–Si catalysts, was investigated. It was found that 2.2 and 8 wt % are the optimum titanium and chromium contents in the synthesized catalysts for obtaining the highest catalytic activity. The superior catalytic performance of the Cr(8)/Ti(2.2)–Si catalyst can be attributed to a higher dispersion of the Cr species, as well as a higher content of the redox Cr species on the surface of the Cr/Ti–Si catalyst. The results showed that the Cr(8)/Ti(2.2)–Si catalyst efficiently dehydrogenated C2H6 in the presence of CO2 giving a 52.3% ethane conversion and 48.0% ethylene yield at 700 °C reaction temperature.