NSF Award
9960419
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project involves the development of a novel process for the low-temperature partial oxidation of hydrocarbons. The selectivity in a hydrocarbon partial oxidation reaction is determined by the balance between partial oxidation to the desired product, and complete oxidation to carbon dioxide and water. The selectivity also decreases due to secondary oxidation of the partial oxidation product. In this proposal, a novel process is described which simultaneously addresses these two issues. During this Phase I program, ethylene epoxidation to ethylene oxide will be studied to demonstrate the technical feasibility of the proposed process. Silver catalysts will be prepared, characterized and tested for ethylene epoxidation in both fixed bed and novel bench-scale reactors. The main objective will be to demonstrate equivalent or better activity and selectivity for ethylene oxide formation in the novel reactor, relative to that of the fixed bed reactor.<br/><br/>The primary commercial application of the novel process to be developed is low temperature, hydrocarbon partial oxidation, where even incremental improvements in selectivity can translate into significant economic credits. It is anticipated that the process will be widely applicable within the specialty and diversified chemical industries.
