Abstract
Bio-ethanol is a liquid organic compound mainly produced from the fermentation of renewable sources such as sugar, starch, and lignocellulose. It can be used as a feedstock for the production of several bulk chemicals, including hydrocarbon and oxygenate compounds. 1,3-butadiene is one of the most important chemicals that can also be produced from the catalytic conversion of bio-ethanol. The conversion of bio-ethanol to 1,3-butadiene is a series of continuous reactions that require different active sites for each step. In this work, a FeMgAl-Layered double oxide (LDO) catalyst was selected as a catalyst for 1,3-butadiene production using bio-ethanol as a feedstock. The effect of ZrO2, grafted on the FeMgAl-LDO catalyst, on 1,3-butadiene production is also investigated. The physical and chemical properties of catalysts were studied using various characterization techniques, including XRD, XRF, NH3-TPD, CO2-TPD, and BET. It was found that the 1,3-butadiene yield was enhanced (8.4 %) with using ZrO2/FeMgAl-LDO as a catalyst. The total basicity of the catalyst was also increased (0.780 mmol/g) with the addition of the grafted-ZrO2. The presence of grafted ZrO2 on the catalyst helped promote the condensation reaction of acetaldehyde to crotonaldehyde and Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley (MPV) reduction of crotonaldehyde to crotyl alcohol, which are the important steps for 1,3-butadiene production. It also promoted the side reaction that is ethanol dehydration to ethylene and other hydrocarbon gasses.
