Supported catalyst for butane hydrogenolyis, method of producing the supported catalyst and method to produce ethane

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12415175-B2
Application number	US-202117995320-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 24, 2021
Priority date	May 8, 2020
Publication date	Sep 16, 2025
Grant date	Sep 16, 2025

Abstract

Catalysts for the hydrogenolysis of butane are described. A supported catalyst for hydrogenolysis of butane to ethane can include a support and a catalytic crystalline bimetallic composition that can include a molybdenum-iridium (Mo—Ir) crystalline composition attached to the support. The supported catalyst has a BET specific surface area of at least 100 m2/g, preferably 100 m2/g to 500 m2/g. Method of use and methods of making the catalyst are also described.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A supported butane hydrogenolysis catalyst for hydrogenolysis of butane to ethane, the supported catalyst comprising:
a support; and
a crystalline catalytic bimetallic material comprising a crystalline catalytic molybdenum—iridium (Mo—Ir) composition attached to the support,
wherein the supported catalyst has a Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area of 100 m 2 /g to 150 m 2 /g,
wherein the supported catalyst has a butane conversion of at least 50%; and
wherein the support comprises alumina, wherein the alumina is gamma-alumina.

2. The supported butane hydrogenolysis catalyst of claim 1 , wherein the support comprises a member selected from the group consisting of zeolite, titania (TiO 2 ) and silica (SiO 2 ), or a combination thereof.

3. The supported butane hydrogenolysis catalyst of claim 2 , wherein the BET surface area is 100 m 2 /g.

4. The supported butane hydrogenolysis catalyst of claim 1 , wherein the support comprises a zeolite.

5. The supported butane hydrogenolysis catalyst of claim 4 , wherein the supported butane hydrogenolysis catalyst has a BET surface area of 150 m 2 /g.

6. The supported butane hydrogenolysis catalyst of claim 4 , wherein the supported butane hydrogenolysis catalyst has a BET surface area of 100 m 2 /g.

7. The supported butane hydrogenolysis catalyst of claim 1 , wherein the Mo—Ir composition has a molar ratio of Mo:Ir of 1:3 to 4:1.

8. The supported butane hydrogenolysis catalyst of claim 1 , wherein the crystalline catalytic Mo—Ir composition comprises a MoIr 3 crystalline structure, a Mo 3 Ir crystalline structure, or a MoIr 4 crystalline structure, or a mixture thereof.

9. The supported butane hydrogenolysis catalyst of claim 8 , comprising 0.1 wt. % to 5 wt. % of the Mo—Ir composition having the MoIr 3 crystalline structure.

10. The supported butane hydrogenolysis catalyst of claim 9 , comprising 0.4 wt. % to 0.8 wt. % of MoIr 3 on a Al 2 O 3 support.

11. The supported butane hydrogenolysis catalyst of claim 10 , wherein the supported butane hydrogenolysis catalyst is a 0.6 wt. % MoIr 3 on the Al 2 O 3 support catalyst.

12. The supported butane hydrogenolysis catalyst of claim 1 , wherein the supported butane hydrogenolysis catalyst has a BET surface area of 100 m 2 /g.

13. A method to produce ethane, the method comprising contacting the supported butane hydrogenolysis catalyst of claim 1 with butane under conditions sufficient for hydrogenolysis of butane and produce ethane wherein the contacting conditions comprise a temperature of 240° C. to 325° C., a pressure of 0.35 MPa to 1.4 MPa, a butane weighted hourly velocity of 1 to 10 hr −1 , or any combination thereof.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the conditions comprise a temperature of 260° C. to 300° C.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the supported butane hydrogenolysis catalyst has a BET surface area of 100 m 2 /g.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the supported butane hydrogenolysis catalyst has a BET surface area of 150 m 2 /g.

17. The method of claim 13 , wherein the butane comprises n-butane, iso-butane, or a mixture thereof.

18. A method of producing the supported butane hydrogenolysis catalyst of claim 1 , the method comprising:
impregnating a support comprising gamma-alumina with a catalytic Mo/Ir precursor composition to form an impregnated support/Mo—Ir precursor composition material;
drying the impregnated support/Mo—Ir precursor composition material to form a dried impregnated support/Mo—Ir precursor composition material; and
calcining the dried impregnated support/Mo—Ir precursor composition material at a temperature of 85° C. to 100° C. for 2 to 24 hours to form the supported butane hydrogenolysis catalyst;
wherein impregnating comprises adding the catalytic Mo/Ir precursor composition dropwise onto the support and agitating the impregnated support/catalytic Mo/Ir precursor composition for 2 to 24 hours; and heat-treating.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the support comprises a member selected from the group consisting of gamma-alumina extrudates, a zeolite, titania extrudates, silica extrudates, or a mixture thereof.

20. A supported butane hydrogenolysis catalyst produced by the method of claim 18 .

Assignees

• Sabic Global Technologies Bv

Inventors

• Baek Byeongjin
• Lengyel Istvan
• Barton Katherine
• Kulkarni Neeta
• Fickel Dustin

Classifications

• B01J35/615

  100-500 m2/g · CPC title

• B01J35/613

  10-100 m2/g · CPC title

• C07C2523/652

  Chromium, molybdenum or tungsten · CPC title

• C07C2521/04

  Alumina · CPC title

• C07C4/10

  from acyclic hydrocarbons · CPC title