Ethylene is produced by the energy intensive endothermic steam cracking reaction. This chemical production process not only requires significant energy consumption, but is also responsible for substantial air emissions due to fossil fuel combustion. The reaction takes place at high temperatures, in excess of 800 °C, and produces a non-selective product distribution which complicates product separation downstream of the reactors. An alternative, moderate temperature, highly selective process is the catalytic oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) of ethane. This process takes place at around 350 °C and is exothermic, releasing energy that can be captured and used.  Alternatively, carbon dioxide can be used as a soft oxidant in place and in combination with oxygen to improve upon the catalytic performance.

New ethylene technology using carbon dioxide as a soft oxidant

256th National Meeting (2018)

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