Oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane to ethylene over phase-pure M1 MoVNbTeOx catalysts in a micro-channel reactor

Abstract

Phase-pure M1 MoVNbTeO_x catalyst plates have been prepared on a metal–ceramic complex substrate by a dip-coating method. At a temperature of 420 °C and atmospheric pressure, the performance of the M1-PVA catalyst plate in a micro-channel reactor approached an ethane conversion of ~60% and an ethylene selectivity of ~85% with a high catalyst productivity of 0.64 kg_C2H4 kg_cat⁻¹ h⁻¹. Due to the excellent heat transfer ability, it is demonstrated that the micro-channel reactor can achieve the same reactor productivity as a traditional fixed-bed reactor within only 20% of its volume. XRD, SEM and ICP characterization indicated that the M1-PVA catalyst plate has a high stability in the micro-channel system.