Dehydration of Ethanol to Ethylene on Ring- and Trilobe-Shaped Catalysts

Abstract

The indicators of ethanol to ethylene catalytic dehydration process on trilobe- and ring-shaped samples of an alumina catalyst were compared at the fixed parameters: thermal agent temperature and catalyst load. Experiments were performed in a flow-through reactor of a laboratory setup and in a tubular reactor of a pilot installation. The use of the less active ring-shaped catalyst ensures higher values of ethanol conversion, ethylene yield, and catalyst performance and significantly lower hydraulic resistance, compared to the more active trilobe-shaped catalyst. This is caused by lower intensity of the heat absorption on the less active catalyst and, correspondingly, to the higher temperature in the ring bed due to higher bed porosity.