Oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane to ethylene in the presence of HCl over CeO2-based catalysts

This article reports a new catalytic route for the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane to ethylene in the presence of HCl at moderate temperatures. CeO2 was found to be the most efficient catalyst for the production of ethylene from the variety of metal oxides examined in this work. CeO2 nanocrystals with rod and cube morphologies showed higher ethane conversions and ethylene selectivities than CeO2 nanoparticles. The modification of CeO2 by MnOx further enhanced the catalytic performance. Ethane conversion of 94% and ethylene selectivity of 69% were obtained after 2 h of reaction at 723 K over an 8 wt% MnOx–CeO2 catalyst. This catalyst was stable and the ethylene yield could be sustained at 65%–70% over 100 h of reaction. The presence of HCl played a key role in the selective production of C2H4, and some of the C2H4 was probably formed from chloroethane by dehydrochlorination.

Graphical AbstractThe presence of HCl significantly accelerates the oxidative dehydrogenation of C2H6 into C2H4 under moderate conditions over CeO2-based catalysts. C2H4 yields of 65%–70% have been obtained over an 8 wt% MnOx-CeO2 catalyst at 723 K.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide