Reducing Emissions by Converting Ethanol to Ethylene

Ethanol to Ethylene Conversion

Ethanol has a variety of applications from biofuels, extraction, and agricultural among other uses. In the U.S. ethanol is produced from corn as a feedstock using a dry mill process due to lower capital costs. This process finely grinds corn into flour and allows it to ferment until it becomes ethanol. Recently, BASF has introduced CircleStar, a new dehydration catalyst that processes renewable raw materials. CircleStar is a star-shaped catalyst that is able to achieve a 99.5% selectivity in converting ethanol to ethylene.

In this article, we’ll explain:

1. Ethanol to Ethylene Conversion
2. What is a Catalyst?
3. Significance of CircleStar

Ethylene is used to produce a variety of products from jet fuel, plastics, textiles, PVC piping, and synthetic rubber. Selectivity is an important parameter to consider when discussing catalysts because they are highly selective in nature. CircleStar decreases the carbon footprint of ethylene production by upwards of 10 percent without affecting the performance of the plastics produced by dropping the operating temperature by 25oC.

What is a Catalyst?

Catalysts increase the rate of reaction by lowering the activation energy without being consumed in the process and they remain unaltered after the reaction is complete. Catalysts have active sites, allowing the reactant to be adsorbed on the surface. Since catalyst active sites are highly specific, they have the ability to force the reaction to produce a certain product over others. This is known as the selectivity of the catalysts. The ability of a catalyst to increase the rate of a reaction is known as the activity of the catalyst.

Due to the star shape of the CircleStar catalyst, the active surface area for the reaction is maximized. The geometry allows for a more optimized reaction, better mass transfer, and longer catalyst life.

Significance of CircleStar

In recent years, climate change and global warming have become an increasing concern. The process of using CircleStar in conversion of ethanol to ethylene will allow the chemical industry to achieve their goal of climate neutrality and net-zero emissions. The current process of converting ethanol to ethylene has a much higher fossil fuel cost than that produced by BASF’s CircleStar catalyst. This innovative catalyst will allow for reduction of CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions by utilizing lower operating temperatures, extended catalyst life, and better mass transfer.

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