Effect of Water on Ethanol Conversion over ZnO

Journal Article · Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Topics in Catalysis

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s11244-015-0503-9· OSTI ID:1347873

Rahman, Muhammad Mahfuzur; Davidson, Stephen D.; Sun, Junming; Wang, Yong

This work focuses on understanding the role of water on ethanol conversion over zinc oxide (ZnO). It was found that a competitive adsorption between ethanol and water occurs on ZnO, which leads to the blockage of the strong Lewis acid site by water on ZnO. As a result, both dehydration and dehydrogenation reactions are inhibited. However, the extent of inhibition for dehydration is orders of magnitude higher than that for dehydrogenation, leading to the shift of reaction pathway from ethanol dehydration to dehydrogenation. In the secondary reactions for acetaldehyde conversion, water inhibits the acetaldehyde aldol-condensation to crotonaldehyde, favoring the oxidation of acetaldehyde to acetic acid, and then to acetone via ketonization at high temperature (i.e., 400 °C).

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 1347873
• Report Number(s): PNNL-SA-124546; KC0302010
• Journal Information: Topics in Catalysis, Journal Name: Topics in Catalysis Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 59; ISSN 1022-5528
• Publisher: Springer
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English