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Controlling selectivity and stability of zeolite catalysts for methanol to hydrocarbons and ethylene oligomerization

Problem statement

Olefins are commodity chemicals with applications in the production of plastics (petrochemical industry), lubricants, plasticizers, and surfactants, among many others. However, there is an imbalance between their production and demand, which oligomerization-cracking reactions over zeolites could solve. At the same time, zeolites are excellent catalysts for methanol to hydrocarbons (MTH), olefins (MTO), or aromatics (MTA). The processes aim to produce light hydrocarbons like propylene or convert ethylene into higher-value a-olefins, aromatic hydrocarbons (BTX), and jet fuel.

Our focus in this project is to modify, synthesize and develop novel materials of different porosity (engineered at the multiscale): from hierarchical zeolites, nano zeolites, and hollow zeolites to catalytic particles, bodies, spray-dried and extrudates with tuned properties. Additionally, we incorporate different metals (i.e., Ni, Cr, Zn) to adjust the selectivity of desired products.

We use various reactors, such as operando or high-throughput packed-bed and batch reactors.

Goals

  • Develop a quantitative analytical workflow to analyze and interpret these complex reacting environments
  • Explore novel renewable and waste resources to obtain chemicals and fuels
  • Deploy ad-hoc catalysts and process conditions to incorporate these wastes in the refinery (bio- and waste-refinery)
  • Analyze process dynamics and kinetics
OLG2023

Related People

Ali Alkadhem
Hend Omar Mohamed
Rushana Khairova

Related Publications

Effect of Operating Conditions on the Coke Nature and HZSM-5 Catalysts Deactivation in the Transformation of Crude Bio-Oil into Hydrocarbons

by Ibanez, Valle, Bilbao, Gayubo, Castaño
Catal. Today Year: 2012

Abstract

A study has been carried out on the effect of operating conditions (bio-oil/methanol ratio in the feed, temperature) on the deactivation of HZSM-5 catalysts used in the production of hydrocarbons by catalytic conversion of crude bio-oil continuously fed into a fluidized bed reactor. The bio-oil to be fed into the reactor has previously been subjected to an on-line thermal transformation in which the pyrolytic lignin derivatives have been re-polymerized. The coke deposited on the catalyst has been studied using different analytical techniques (FTIR spectroscopy, MS/FTIR-TPO, 13C CP-MAS NMR spectroscopy). The results evidence a direct relationship between coke deposition and deactivation and the concentration of bio-oil oxygenates in the reaction medium. Consequently, bio-oil conversion should be promoted in order to mitigate coke deposition. This is achieved using a HZSM-5 zeolite catalyst with a reduced SiO2/Al2O3 ratio and increasing reaction temperature and methanol/bio-oil ratio in the feed. The acidity of the HZSM-5 zeolite also has an influence on the nature of the coke, given that it contributes to increasing coke condensation towards polycondensed aromatic structures, although this has a minor effect on bio-oil conversion decrease with time on stream. The results obtained evidence the interest of the initiatives for co-feeding bio-oil with methanol to obtain hydrocarbons.

Keywords

O2H FCC W2C ANW