Olefin conversion technology
Olefin Conversion Technology, also called the Phillips Triolefin Process, is the industrial process that interconverts propylene with ethylene and 2-butenes.[1] The process is also called the ethylene to propylene (ETP) process. In ETP, ethylene is dimerized to 1-butene, which is isomerized to 2-butenes. The 2-butenes are then subjected to metathesis with ethylene.
Rhenium- and molybdenum-containing heterogeneous catalysis are used. Nowadays, only the reverse reaction is practiced, i.e., the conversion of ethylene and 2-butene to propylene:[2]
- CH2=CH2 + CH3CH=CHCH3 → 2 CH2=CHCH3
The technology is founded on an olefin metathesis reaction discovered at Phillips Petroleum Company.[3] The originally described process employed catalysts molybdenum hexacarbonyl, tungsten hexacarbonyl, and molybdenum oxide supported on alumina.
References
- ^ "Converting Olefins to Propene: Ethene to Propene and Olefin Cracking". Catalysis Reviews Science and Engineering. 60. 2018. doi:10.1080/01614940.2018.1432017.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|authors=ignored (help) - ^ Ghashghaee, Mohammad. "Heterogeneous catalysts for gas-phase conversion of ethylene to higher olefins". Rev. Chem. Eng. doi:10.1515/revce-2017-0003.
- ^ Banks, R. L.; Bailey, G. C. (1964). "Olefin Disproportionation. A New Catalytic Process". Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Product Research and Development. 3 (3): 170–173. doi:10.1021/i360011a002.