Factors influencing 1,3-butadiene formation for light alkane dehydrogenation

Abstract

The formation of 1,3-butadiene is detrimental to the steady operation for the alkane dehydrogenation processes, therefore, feasible strategies to inhibit its formation were investigated over Sn-based catalysts. Clearly, most of 1,3-butadiene comes from n-butane dehydrogenation. The formation rate of 1,3-butadiene is closely related to the catalyst compositions, such as the nature of active component and the support. Meanwhile, introducing appropriate promoters can reduce the amount of 1,3-butadiene. For the reaction conditions, to obtain both high yield of n-butenes and low yield of 1,3-butadiene, reaction temperature and n-butane partial pressure should be chosen according to the actual situation. A relatively high weight hourly space velocity can inhibit 1,3-butadiene formation. Besides, the optimal hydrogen partial pressure can be found, and here the appropriate value should be between 10.1 and 20.3 kPa. Finally, according to the reaction behavior, it is hypothesized that 1,3-butadiene is probably formed through both direct dehydrogenation of n-butane and further dehydrogenation of n-butenes.