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U.S. Department of Energy
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Mechanism of olefin production on Pt, Rh, and Pd catalysts

Conference ·
OSTI ID:126252
;  [1]
  1. Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States)

The partial oxidation of ethylene, propylene, and butylene in an autothermal reactor at atmospheric pressure with contact times less that {approximately}10 milliseconds leads to high selectivities to mono-olefins over Pt/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}, synthesis gas over Rh/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}, and rapid carbon deposition and deactivation over Pd/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} at complete oxygen conversion and high alkane conversion. In all cases, thermodynamics predicts carbon deposition. We will show how the product distributions vary with choice of catalyst and reaction conditions. We will use an elementary step model based on surface reaction rates on the various metals obtained from the surface science literature to simulate these experimental results. The dominant reaction pathways on the different metals can be explained by the relative preference for {beta} elimination reactions on Pt, nearly even split between {alpha} and {beta} elimination on Rh, and rapid {alpha} elimination on Pd.

OSTI ID:
126252
Report Number(s):
CONF-950402--
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English