Ethylene production oxidative

ETHYLENE We discussed ethylene production in an earlier boxed essay (Section 5 1) where it was pointed out that the output of the U S petrochemi cal industry exceeds 5 x 10 ° Ib/year Approximately 90% of this material is used for the preparation of four compounds (polyethylene ethylene oxide vinyl chloride and styrene) with polymerization to poly ethylene accounting for half the total Both vinyl chloride and styrene are polymerized to give poly(vinyl chloride) and polystyrene respectively (see Table 6 5) Ethylene oxide is a starting material for the preparation of ethylene glycol for use as an an tifreeze in automobile radiators and in the produc tion of polyester fibers (see the boxed essay Condensation Polymers Polyamides and Polyesters in Chapter 20)... 

The process can be operated in two modes co-fed and redox. The co-fed mode employs addition of O2 to the methane/natural gas feed and subsequent conversion over a metal oxide catalyst. The redox mode requires the oxidant to be from the lattice oxygen of a reducible metal oxide in the reactor bed. After methane oxidation has consumed nearly all the lattice oxygen, the reduced metal oxide is reoxidized using an air stream. Both methods have processing advantages and disadvantages. In all cases, however, the process is mn to maximize production of the more desired ethylene product. 

Production of maleic anhydride by oxidation of / -butane represents one of butane s largest markets. Butane and LPG are also used as feedstocks for ethylene production by thermal cracking. A relatively new use for butane of growing importance is isomerization to isobutane, followed by dehydrogenation to isobutylene for use in MTBE synthesis. Smaller chemical uses include production of acetic acid and by-products. Methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) is the principal by-product, though small amounts of formic, propionic, and butyric acid are also produced. / -Butane is also used as a solvent in Hquid—Hquid extraction of heavy oils in a deasphalting process. 

The noncatalytic oxidation of propane in the vapor phase is nonselec-tive and produces a mixture of oxygenated products. Oxidation at temperatures below 400°C produces a mixture of aldehydes (acetaldehyde and formaldehyde) and alcohols (methyl and ethyl alcohols). At higher temperatures, propylene and ethylene are obtained in addition to hydrogen peroxide. Due to the nonselectivity of this reaction, separation of the products is complex, and the process is not industrially attractive. 

Considerable support exists for Reaction 18a (35). The application of an electrostatic field during radiolysis of ethylene-nitric oxide (I.P. 9.25 e.v.) mixtures showed no enhancement of the butene yields, consistent with an ionic mechanism. When mixtures of C2D4 and C2H4 are irradiated in the presence of nitric oxide, product butene consists almost entirely of C4H8, C4D4H4, and C4D8—evidence for a molecular association mechanism. 

Kataoka M, Sasaki M, Hidalgo AR, Nakano M, Shimizu S (2001) Glycolic acid production using ethylene glycol-oxidizing microorganism. Biosci Bio-technol Biochem 65(10) 2265-2270... 

When a calcined Cr(VI)/Si02 catalyst is fed with ethylene at 373-423 K, an induction time is observed prior to the onset of the polymerization. This is attributed to a reduction phase, during which chromium is reduced and ethylene is oxidized [4]. Baker and Garrick obtained a conversion of 85-96% to Cr(II) for a catalyst exposed to ethylene at 400 K formaldehyde was the main by-product [44]. Water and other oxidation products have been also observed in the gas phase. These reduction products are very reactive and consequently can partially cover the surface. The same can occur for reduced chromium sites. Consequently, the state of sihca surface and of chromium after this reduction step is not well known. Besides the reduction with ethylene of Cr(Vl) precursors (adopted in the industrial process), four alternative approaches have been used to produce supported chromium in a reduced state ... 

The chemical uses for ethylene prior to World War II were limited, for the most part, to ethylene glycol and ethyl alcohol. After the war, the demand for styrene and polyethylene took off, stimulating ethylene production and olefin plant construction. Todays list of chemical applications for ethylene reads like the WTiat s What of petrochemicals polyethylene, ethylbenzene (a precursor to styrene), ethylene dichloride, vinyl chloride, ethylene oxide, ethylene glycol, ethyl alcohol, vinyl acetate, alpha olefins, and linear alcohols are some of the more commercial derivatives of ethylene. The consumer products derived from these chemicals are found everywhere, from soap to construction materials to plastic products to synthetic motor oils. 

Methanol Formaldehyde Ethylene Propylene oxide Phenol 1,4-Butanediol Tetrahydrofuran Ethylene glycol Adipic acid Isocyanates Styrene Methyl methacrylate Methyl formate Two-step, via CH4 steam reforming Three-step, via methanol Cracking of naphtha Co-product with t-butyl alcohol or styrene Co-product with acetone Reppe acetylene chemistry Multi-step Hydration of ethylene oxide Multi-step Phosgene chemistry Co-product with propylene oxide Two-step, via methacrolein Three-step, via methanol... 

The TPSR spectrum has reactant peaks at m/e = 32, 16, 28, 27, 26, and 40 corresponding to the parent and fragment peaks of oxygen, ethylene, and argon, respectively. A product peak at m/c=44 begins to appear at temperatures above 423 K and corresponds to the parent ion of both eAylene oxide and carbon dioxide. Changing the feed to ethylene-d4 gives rise to new product peaks at m/e = 48 and m/e = 46 as well as the peak at m/e = 44. The former two peaks are indicative of ethylene-d4 oxide. 

Figure 6. Transient responses of pump-probe inputs (a) Oxygen and ethylene-d4 inputs (m/e = 32) separated by = 0.25 seconds (b) carbon dioxide (m/e = 44) product response (c) ethylene-d4 oxide (m/e = 48) product response (Note peak at t = 0.0 is minor contaminant in oxygen feed).

Figure 8. Ethylene-d4 oxide production and oxygen uptake as a function of pulse number.

Figure 12. (a) Comparison of ethylene-d4 oxide selectivity and model-predicted average subsurface oxygen concentration as a function of pulse number, (b) Comparison of carbon dioxide production and model-predicted average oxygen surface coverage as a function of pulse number. 

The production of ethylene from methional (3-thiomethylpropanal) was induced by the oxidation of xanthine by dioxygen catalysed by xanthine oxidase The second-order rate constant for the reaction of hydroxyl radicals with methional was estimated by pulse radiolysis to amount to 8.2 x lO s while the superoxide anion reacted more slowly The short lag period of the ethylene production induced by the oxidation of xanthine could be overcome by the addition of small amounts of hydrogen peroxide. The reaction was inhibited by SOD or by catalase, and by scavengers of hydroxyl radicals, so that the Haber-Weiss reaction was implicated... 

The Fe-EDTA complex catalysed the oxidation of tryptophan and the hydroxyla-tion of salicylate in the presence of a superoxide-generating system, A partial inhibition by diethylenetriaminepenta-acetate was observed for the latter reaction and in the ethylene production from 2-keto-4-thiomethylbutyrate... 

A reduction and activation of HjOj by other one-electron donors, like semiquinones, has also to be considered. This follows from a study of the ethylene production from methionine in the presence of pyridoxal phosphate, a reaction characteristic for OH radicals or for Fenton-type oxidants. The ethylene production in the presence of dioxygen, anthraquinone-2-sulfonate, and an NADPH-generating system in phosphate buffer pH 7.6 was inhibited by SOD and by catalase, but stimulated by scavengers of OH radicals, like 0.1 mM mannitol, a-tocopherol, and formiate... 

Deactivation processes competing with fluorescence are mainly nonradiative deactivation to the S0 state (IC) and nonradiative transition to a triplet state (intersystem crossing, ISC). Photochemical products are often formed from this triplet state. Important photochemical reactions are the E—yZ isomerization of ethylene, the oxidation of pyrazoline to pyrazole, and the dimerization of cou-marins. 

Methane-based commercial production of ethylene via oxidative coupling has been investigated, but to date the lower per pass conversions required for acceptable ethylene selectivities combined with purified oxygen costs make this process noncompetitive with thermal cracking of ethane from natural gas liquids. 

Rare earth oxides are useful for partial oxidation of natural gas to ethane and ethylene. Samarium oxide doped with alkali metal halides is the most effective catalyst for producing predominantly ethylene. In syngas chemistry, addition of rare earths has proven to be useful to catalyst activity and selectivity. Formerly thorium oxide was used in the Fisher-Tropsch process. Recently ruthenium supported on rare earth oxides was found selective for lower olefin production. Also praseodymium-iron/alumina catalysts produce hydrocarbons in the middle distillate range. Further unusual catalytic properties have been found for lanthanide intermetallics like CeCo2, CeNi2, ThNis- Rare earth compounds (Ce, La) are effective promoters in alcohol synthesis, steam reforming of hydrocarbons, alcohol carbonylation and selective oxidation of olefins. 

While the slow protonation of the hydride species leads to H2 evolution, the ligation of acetylene to the Co(II)-protoporphyrin results in intramolecular hydride transfer and the hydrogenation of acetylene to ethylene. The oxidized dye is reduced by EDTA and thus the photobiocatalyst functions as a cyclic photoen2yme. Photo-induced hydrogenation of acetylenedicarboxylic acid proceeds stereoselectively and yields the thermodynamically less stable cis product, maleic acid. 

Isotope effects can be used to choose the most likely path. When ethylene is oxidized in deuterated water, the acetaldehyde contains no deuterium hence, all four hydrogens in the acetaldehyde must come from the ethylene. Thus, if the slow step of the reaction involves the formation of acetaldehyde, the activated complex for this slow step would involve a hydride transfer, and a primary isotope effect would be expected when deuterated ethylene is used. Actually, the isotope effect kn/ko was found to be only 1.07. In Paths 1 and 3, the slow step is, respectively, the decomposition of a 7r-complex and a a-complex to product, and they would be expected to display a primary isotope effect. However, in Path 2, the rate-determining step is the rearrangement of a 7r-complex to a (T-complex. Since no carbon-hydrogen bonds are broken, no primary isotope effect would be expected. Thus, Path 2 is consistent with all the experimental facts. Paths involving oxypalladation adducts, first suggested by the Russian workers (32), are now generally accepted (19, 28, 32). 

Little work has been carried out vith silica itself, probably because it possesses a relative low activity, e.g. in ethanol dehydration, as pointed out by Hatcher and Sadler. They observed that attrition grinding of various silicas enhanced their activity for ethanol dehydration. At the temperatures involved (< 300 °C) most oxides favour ether production and only at higher temperatures does ethylene production predominate. Attrition-ground sihcas were atypical in this respect, giving ethylene and some of the acid sites produced were quite strong, as NH3 adsorption was quite substantial even at temperatures of 400-450 °C. 

Ross and co-workers [9,10] have explored the influence of CO2 on the oxidative coupling of methane over the Li/MgO catalyst. They found that carbon dioxide in the gas phase lowers both the methane conversion and the yield of ethane/ethylene products. They also found that carbon dioxide significantly improves the stability of the catalyst against deactivation. Based on the observations of surface species from FTIRS and transient experiments. In addition, most of the observations and experimental results reported to date cover a limited range of methane to oxygen feed ratios. There is a need to study the reaction over a wide range of methane to oxygen ratios and to quantify the effects of carbon dioxide on the reaction rates. 

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