Increased Ethylene Production by the Combination Technology of Targeted Catalytic Cracking to Olefins and Dehydration of Bioethanol Reaction

Abstract

Ethylene is mostly produced by the naphtha steam cracking (NSC) process, which has a higher cracking temperature, higher energy consumption, and strict requirements for raw materials. The targeted catalytic cracking to olefins (TCO) presents a new reaction pathway for ethylene production. The combined process of TCO and bioethanol dehydration reaction reduces methane yield by 16.51% and improves the utilization of carbon/hydrogen atoms by 23.67%/25.08% with the ethylene yield of 44.56%. Also, the reaction temperature of TCO/bioethanol dehydration reaction (670–740 °C/400 °C) is lower than that of NSC (750–900 °C). Especially, the AHZ-C catalyst with weak acid sites and increased distance between the acid sites blocked the protonation process of ethylene and improved the ethylene selectivity in the bioethanol dehydration reaction. The combination of TCO and ethanol dehydration reaction may be one of the effective technologies for producing ethylene.