Novel Catalytic Materials and Intensified Processes for Olefin Synthesis from Syngas Produced from Biomass or Coal – OLSYNCAT

Our method involves controlled synthesis of novel catalytic materials, searching for structure catalytic performance correlation and intensification of catalytic processes.

During the first 18 months of the project we have developed different sulfide and carbide catalysts supported by metal oxide and carbon materials for synthesis of olefins in the presence of sulfur in syngas. These designed catalysts have shown improved stability in the presence of biomass and coal derived syngas. New active and selective catalysts for carbon dioxide hydrogenation to higher hydrocarbons were also developed as a part of this project.

The forthcoming research will address optimization of reaction selectivity to the olefins and identification of the reaction active sites.

1. Oral presentation : Carbon monoxide hydrogenation with syngas containing sulphur, C. Liu, A. Khodakov, A. Griboval, M. Virginie, Y. Wang, 2nd Franco-Chinese symposium « Catalysis and Sustainable Development, sept. 2013, Villeneuve d’Ascq, France
2. Oral presentation : Fischer-Tropsch synthesis on supported metal carbides, K. Cheng, M. Virginie, Y. Wang, A. Khodakov, 2nd Franco-Chinese symposium « Catalysis and Sustainable Development, sept. 2013, Villeneuve d’Ascq, France
3. Effect of support texture on the catalytic performance of silica supported iron carbide catalysts, K.Cheng, M. Virginie, V. Ordomsky, Y. Wang, A. Khodakov, TOCAT7, Japan, submitted
4. Oral presentation : Chang Liu, Anne Griboval-Constant, Mirella Virginie and Andrei Khodakov, Influence of sulfur in biosyngas on the catalytic performance of Fischer-Tropsch catalysts, JNOEJC, 27 et 28 juin 2013, Le Havre
5. Keynote lecture : A. Khodakov Mechanisms of activation and deactivation of cobalt catalysts in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, 10th Natural Gas Conversion Symposium, 2-7 March 2013, Doha, Qatar
6. Zhenya You, Weiping Deng, Qinghong Zhang, Ye Wang, Hydrogenation of carbon dioxide to light olefins over non-supported iron catalyst, Chinese Journal of Catalysis, 2013 (34): 956-963.
7. Qinghong Zhang, Weiping Deng, Ye Wang, Recent advances in understanding the key catalyst factors for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, Journal of Energy Chemistry, 2013 (22): 27-38.
8. Jincan Kang, Weiping Deng, Qinghong Zhang, Ye Wang, Ru particle size effect in Ru/CNT-catalyzed Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, Journal of Energy Chemistry, 2013 (22): 321-328.

Development of novel routes for the efficient utilization of non-petroleum resources including biomass and coal to produce chemicals and ultraclean liquid fuels has attracted much attention because of environmental concerns and the depletion of petroleum resources.
The present project focuses on the design of novel processes for the transformation of biomass- or coal-derived syngas into light olefins (C2-C4 olefins) which are an important feedstock for the chemical and petrochemical industry. In particular, this project involves novel catalytic materials and process intensification. The originality of this proposal also relates to the fact that novel catalytic materials and reactors will be optimized for olefin synthesis using syngas produced from gasification of biomass and coal which contains sulphur and other impurities. These impurities are harmful for the performance of conventional Fischer-Tropsch catalysts. The project will also focus on the process intensification by optimization of micro- and milli-channel reactors and their operating modes. The principal advantages of milli- and microreactors are related to better heat transfer and absence of diffusion limitation due to the smaller sizes of catalyst grains. The micro- and milli-channel reactors will allow further improvement of the olefin yields and process efficiency.
The realisation of this project will result in new cost-effective technologies based on novel catalytic materials and intensified processes for synthesis of value-added olefins from biomass and coal.