Vol 57, No 7 (2017)

The world market of dimethyl ether (DME) is rapidly gaining in strength. The review addresses prospects for using the slurry technology in the large-scale world production of DME. The literature and patent data pertaining to the manufacture of dimethyl ether in slurry reactors using finely divided heterogeneous catalysts suspended in inert liquids are generalized. Variants of the slurry technology used in the one-step DME synthesis from syngas and in the two-step DME synthesis (at the stage of dimethyl ether manufacturing via methanol dehydration) are considered. Advantages of the slurry technology over the conventional gas-phase methods of DME production are highlighted.

Effects of the particle size of a suspended zeolite catalyst based on the commercial MFI-type (high modulus zeolite, HMZ) zeolite on its physicochemical characteristics and catalytic properties in the conversion of dimethyl ether (DME) in a three-phase system with a slurry reactor are studied. In order to gain insight into the relationships between the physicochemical characteristics of MFI-type zeolites and their catalytic properties, the textural, acidic, and catalytic properties of HMZ zeolites and synthesized nanocrystallites of the zeolite with the MFI structure are compared. It was found that, in the conversion of DME in the slurry reactor, the catalytic properties of the MFI zeolite are strongly affected by the size of particles of the suspended catalyst: on passage to nanosized suspensions, the activity of the catalyst grows by several times. Reduction in the size of catalyst particles leads to an increase in the yield of hydrocarbons C₅⁺ and a decrease in the yield of lower olefins. At the same dispersity of suspensions, the catalytic properties of suspended catalysts are considerably affected by the distribution of acid sites over strength in the studied zeolite sample and the fraction of amphoteric sites in them.

A method for synthesizing fine hydrodearomatization catalysts based on the immobilization of molybdenum carbonyl into the pores of mesoporous aromatic frameworks is proposed. It is shown that the amount of the deposited metal and the average size of the resulting particles depend on the support and the deposition method characteristics. The catalytic activity of the synthesized materials in the hydrogenation of bicyclic hydrocarbons at a hydrogen pressure of 5.0 MPa in a temperature range of 330–500°C is studied using the example of naphthalene, methylnaphthalenes, and biphenyl as model substrates.

The effect of a polyacrylonitrile additive on the catalytic behavior of an iron-containing suspension under the conditions of Fischer–Tropsch synthesis in a slurry reactor is studied. Modeling of the formation of a catalytic particle using the molecular dynamics method is performed.

The features of the steam cracking of heavy crude oil in the presence of a dispersed molybdenumcontaining catalyst are studied. The effect of water, the catalyst, and process conditions on the composition and properties of the products of the thermal conversion of heavy crude oil is determined in experiments on thermal cracking, steam cracking, catalytic cracking in the absence of water, and hydrocracking. A complex analysis of the resulting products is conducted; the catalyst-containing solid residue (coke) has been studied by XRD and HRTEM. The effect of the process temperature (425 and 450°C) and time on the yields and properties of the resulting products is studied. The efficiencies of hydrocracking and steam cracking for the production of upgraded low-viscosity semisynthetic oil are compared; the fundamental changes that occur in the catalyst during the studied processes are discussed. Some assumptions about the principle of the catalytic action of the molybdenum-containing catalyst in the steam cracking process are made.