Oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane over alkali-metal doped sulfated zirconia catalysts

Alkali-metal doped sulfated zirconia catalysts were tested for the oxidativ e dehydrogenation of ethane into ethene. The effects of metal precursor com pounds and acidic anion promoters on the catalytic activity in this reactio n were studied. It was found that sulfation of zirconia increases the selec tivity of ethane towards ethene. Lithium-, sodium-, and potassium-doped sul fated zirconia catalysts showed quite different activities in this reaction . Sulfated zirconia doped with lithium catalysts were found to be effective for the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane, giving over 90% selectivity t o ethene and 25% ethene yield at 650 degrees C. (C) 1999 Society of Chemica l Industry.