2TITLE: Development of a catalyst for conversion of syngas-derived materials to isobutylene. Quarterly report No. 2, June 15, 1991--September 30, 1991.

AUTHOR: G. J. Gajda.

INST.  AUTHOR: UOP, Inc., Des Plaines, IL.

SPONSOR: Department of Energy, Washington, DC.

LANGUAGE: English

PUB.  TYPE: Technical Report

PUB.  COUNTRY: United States

SOURCE: Department of Energy [DE],  3 Oct 91,  12p.

NTIS ORDER NO.: DE93008189INW

ABSTRACT:

Gasoline reformulation has become a priority throughout the refining industry. In most proposed new gasoline formulations, the addition of oxygenates, such as methyl toruary butyl ether (MTBE), ethyl tertiary butyl other (ETBE), or teruary amyl methyl other (TAME), is being considered to maintain an acceptable octane. The production of the others MTBE and ETBE will ultimately be limited by the availability of isobutylene. Traditional commercial routes for producing isobutylene will be unable to meet the large growth in demand anticipated for fuel ethers.  Developing a process in which coal could be converted to oxygenated gasoline blending components would take advantage of the vast coal reserves in the United States. The technology already exists for making methanol from coal-derived syngas. Numerous commercial processes are also available to make MTBE from methanol and isobutylene. A new technology that could be used to make isobutylene from syngas would complement the syngas-to-methanol process, and help to ease the anticipated shortages of isobutylene. The main goal of this contract Is to develop a catalyst and technology that will produce isobutylene directly from coal-derived syngas and that is capable of utilizing a lower (0.5 to 1.0) H(sub 2):CO ratio.  The research will identity and optimize the key catalyst and process characteristics that give improved performance for CO conversion by a non-Fischer-Tropsch process. This report, covers the testing of various Zro(sub 2)-based catalyst systems designed to examine the effects of catalyst preparation and process variables.

REPORT  NUMBER: DOE/PC/90042-T2

CONTRACT  NUMBER: AC22-91PC90042