Radio-frequency heating for catalytic propane dehydrogenation†

In this paper, we have demonstrated radio frequency (RF) heating of susceptor nanomaterials coupled with conventional catalysts to enable a new class of heterogeneous catalytic reactors with localized, volumetric heating. The recent emphasis on industrial decarbonization has highlighted the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from chemical process heating. Existing industrial scale catalytic reactors use fuel-fired furnaces to achieve high temperatures which contributes to CO₂ emissions and requires on-site infrastructure. Compared to conventional heating, this work uses a power-to-chemicals route, where RF fields (1–200 MHz) are utilized to volumetrically heat RF-responsive carbon nanomaterials integrated with the catalyst. With the option of using renewable electricity sources, the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the process can be reduced, thereby contributing to industrial decarbonization. We demonstrate the use of an RF applicator to drive the highly endothermic propane dehydrogenation reaction on a Pt/alumina catalyst using carbon nanotubes as the RF susceptors. The propane conversion and propylene yield using RF heating were similar to those obtained when the reactor was heated externally in an oven (conventional heating (CH)) at 500 °C. After each reaction cycle, the catalyst was successfully regenerated by RF heating in air to remove deposited carbon.