Coke-resistant Chromium-Based Catalyst for Propane-to-Propylene Process Developed by Dalian University of Technology

The Dalian University of Technology has developed a coke-resistant Cr-based catalyst for manufacture of propene through propane dehydrogenation with a chemical structure of Cr-K-Ca/Al2O3, which consists of Cr2O3as the active component, K2O as the first cocatalyst and CaO as the second cocatalyst, and uses the rod-like unsaturated coordination bonded alumina as the support.There are a bevy of unsaturated alkyl complex Al3+on the surface of Al2O3to help anchoring the active gradient Cr2O3to form strong interactions between Cr2O3and Al2O3that can avoid the agglomeration of Cr2O3in the course of reaction and inhibit the side reactions in order to stop coke formation caused by further dehydrogenation and polymerization of propylene, resulting in the enhancement of catalytic stability while maintaining higher propylene selectivity (CN 107715862, 2018-02-23). Use of Al2O3as the support can enhance the catalyst selectivity and resistance against deactivation of the catalyst. Compared with other similar catalysts, the said catalyst features higher propylene selectivity, slower deactivation rate caused by coke deposition, higher catalytic stability, and a remarkable increase in mechanical strength to promise a good commercial application prospect. A real case of application has shown that this catalyst has created a propane conversion of 32.4% and a propylene selectivity of 92.7%.