Effect of hydrogen on catalytic coupling reaction of carbon monoxide to diethyl oxalate

The effect of hydrogen on catalytic coupling reaction of CO was tested at a temperature of 120 degreesC and residence time of 1.8 s. It was found that after introducing hydrogen to this system, ethanol was produced by H-2 rea ction with ethyl nitrite. With the increase of hydrogen concentration, the conversion of CO and H-2 decreased and the selectivity of diethyl oxalate d ecreased too. The regeneration of the catalyst after removing hydrogen from the system was tested to prove reversible poisoning. The results show that the hydrogen concentration should be kept below 2 mol%.