Application of Nickel/Kieselguhr catalysts to C9-aldehyde hydrogenation in trickle bed reactor

I&EC 53

Young-Kwon Park, catalica@uos.ac.kr, Department of Environmental Engineering, University of Seoul, 90, Jeonnog-dong, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, 130-743, South Korea, Jong-Ki Jeon, jkjeon@kongju.ac.kr, Department of Chemical Engineering, Kongju National University, Gongju, 314-701, and Seung-Soo Kim, sskim@kipeq.or.kr, Research Center, Korea Institute of Petroleum Quality, 653-1, Yangcheong-ri, Ochang-eup, Cheongwon-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do, 363-883, South Korea.
The objective of the present study was to select the optimal catalyst and operating conditions for the manufacture of C9-alcohol, using C9-aldehyde and hydrogen, in a trickle bed reactor. When CaO, Ce2O3 or MgO was added as a promoter to the Ni/kieselguhr catalyst, the BET and Ni surface areas were increased. In the reaction for the manufacture of C9-alcohol, using C9-aldehyde and hydrogen in a batch reactor, a Ni-MgO/kieselguhr catalyst showed the highest activity. In addition, the catalyst using Na2CO3 as a precipitant showed the highest activity. According to the result of an experiment to find the optimal reaction conditions for C9-alcohol synthesis, using C9-aldehyde and hydrogen in a trickle bed reactor loaded with Ni-MgO/kieselguhr catalyst, the highest yield of C9-alcohol was 91.5 wt% at 130°C, 400 psi and WHSV = 3. The C9-aldehyde hydrogenation performance of the Ni-MgO/kieselguhr catalyst was similar to that of a Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst, but superior to that of Cu-Ni-Cr-Na/Al2O3 and Ni-Mo/Al2O3 catalysts. In a long-term catalysis test, the Ni-MgO/kieselguhr catalyst showed higher stability than the Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst.
 

IEC Poster Session
8:00 PM-10:00 PM, Tuesday, August 21, 2007 BCEC -- Exhibit Hall - B2, Poster

Division of Industrial & Engineering Chemistry

The 234th ACS National Meeting, Boston, MA, August 19-23, 2007