Catalytic dehydration of bioethanol to ethylene over TiO2/γ-Al2O3 catalysts in microchannel reactors

Ethylene is essential material for the petrochemical industry. Ethylene production via catalytic dehydration of ethanol over TiO2/γ-Al2O3 catalysts in multi-microchannel reactors is reported in this paper. The physicochemical properties of these catalysts are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and FT-IR spectrum. The effects of operation parameters, such as ethanol concentration, reaction temperature and liquid hourly space velocity, have been investigated experimentally. The reaction results indicate that the catalysts doped with TiO2 have high ethanol conversion of 99.96% and ethylene selectivity of 99.4%. Ethylene yield of 26 g/(gcat h) can be achieved, which provides very favorable foundation for the process intensification and miniaturization of the ethylene production process using bioethanol.