Enhanced olefin production from renewable aliphatic feedstocks and co-fed lignin derivatives using experimental surrogates by millisecond catalytic partial oxidation

Bradon J. Dreyer, Paul J. Dauenhauer, Raimund Horn, Lanny D. Schmidt

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

To investigate the effect of co-fed lignin derivatives on olefin production in the catalytic partial oxidation of aliphatic feedstocks, benzene was selected as a lignin surrogate and n-hexane was selected as a renewable oil surrogate. Aromatic benzene and aliphatic n-hexane, along with the corresponding 80:20 and 50:50 molar n-hexane/benzene mixtures, were partially oxidized in millisecond contact time reactors, varying the fuel to oxygen ratio (0.8 < C/O < 2.0), the catalyst (5 wt % Pt or Rh), the support (45 or 80 pores per linear inch a̧-Al2O3) while maintaining constant space time (GHSV=105 h-1). The experiments indicate that the addition of benzene likely results in competitive catalytic adsorption which reduces the catalytic oxidation of n-hexane and increases production of olefins by homogeneous cracking. Under optimal conditions, selectivity to ethylene and propylene from n-hexane was increased from ∼35% using pure n-hexane to ∼65% when using a 50:50 molar mixture of benzene and n-hexane. Results indicate that the addition of lignin-derived aromatic species should increase production of olefins from catalytically reformed renewable oils.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1611-1624
Number of pages14
JournalIndustrial and Engineering Chemistry Research
Volume49
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 17 2010

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Enhanced olefin production from renewable aliphatic feedstocks and co-fed lignin derivatives using experimental surrogates by millisecond catalytic partial oxidation'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this