Advanced Catalytic Dehydrogenation Technologies for Production of Olefins

Catalytic dehydrogenation is a critical and growing technology for the production of olefins, especially for propylene production. This paper will give an overview of advances in the catalysis science and technology for production of olefins by catalytic dehydrogenation, including the concomitant removal of H2 by selective oxidation. For light paraffin dehydrogenation, UOP has licensed the Oleflex™ process widely for production of polymer-grade propylene as well as isobutylene with over 12 million metric tons of capacity announced. Today there are nine UOP C3 Oleflex™ units in operation accounting for 55 % of the installed world-wide propylene production capacity from propane dehydrogenation technology. The heart of the process is a noble metal multi-metallic catalyst and the continuous catalyst regeneration (CCR) process. The coupling of catalytic dehydrogenation with selective oxidation of hydrogen allows one to design a process, which greatly improves equilibrium conversions while maintaining very high selectivity to olefin. The Lummus/UOP SMART™ SM process (Styrene Monomer Advanced Reheat Technology) allows 30–70 % capacity expansion, achieves a higher per-pass ethylbenzene conversion, and provides the most cost-effective revamp for higher capacity. Styrene Monomer Advanced Reheat Technology (SMART™) uses an oxidation catalyst and novel reactor internals to allow oxidative reheating between dehydrogenation stages. In the case of selective oxidation catalysts containing dispersed metal active sites, the role of diffusion and pore architecture is as important as the active metal sites.