Regeneration studies of redox catalysts

Cited advantages of circulating fluidized bed reactors (CFB) include higher selectivity and conversion together with the ability to optimize the process conditions of each vessel independently—temperature, gas partial pressure and residence time. DuPont commercialized a CFB process to produce maleic anhydride in which a vanadium pyrophosphate (VPO) was cycled between a fast bed riser and an air fed regenerator. Together with VPO, we examined two other redox catalyst systems—MoVSb (acrylic acid from propane) and FeMoO (methanol to formaldehyde).The lattice oxygen capacity of the FeMoO catalyst was about five times higher than either the VPO or MoVSb with little adsorbed carbon but a significant quantity of chemisorbed water. Above 350 °C, carbon deposition was detected and increased with increasing temperature. Carbon deposition decreased with increasing temperature for the MoVSb system and its lattice oxygen capacity was slightly higher than for VPO. The carbon deposition pattern for VPO was the opposite of the MoVSb and increased with temperature. Based on a hydrogen and carbon mass balance during the catalyst re-oxidation treatment, the molecular composition of the adsorbed species were C4H6 and C3H3—like for the VPO and MoVSb, respectively.Based on the high lattice oxygen capacity, the formaldehyde reaction appears to be ideally suited for development in a CFB. Whereas the lattice oxygen contribution of the MoVSb is equivalent to VPO, less oxygen is required to produce acrylic acid (compared to maleic anhydride) so the incentive of developing a CFB process should be greater than for butane oxidation to maleic anhydride.