Effect of boron promotion on coke formation during propane dehydrogenation over Pt/γ-Al2O3 catalysts

MOSTAFA ALY; VLADIMIR GALVITA; ESTEBAN FORNERO; MARK SAEYS; JENOFF DE VRIEZE

Aachen

Congreso; 14th EuropaCat - European Congress on Catalysis; 2019

Propylene is an important building block for a variety of bulk chemicals and polymers. The shift in steam cracking feedstock from naphtha to more abundant shale gas, as well as the growth in propylene demand, have motivated a switch to ?on-purpose? propylene production processes such as catalytic propane dehydrogenation (PDH). While many research efforts have addressed deactivation of Pt-based catalysts during PDH, coke formation continues to be a challenge. Boron promotion drastically reduces coke formation on Ni during steam reforming, and on Co during Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. DFT calculations indicate that boron atoms selectively block step and/or subsurface sites, thus preventing the nucleation and growth of deactivating carbon. The nature of boron, either as alloy or an amorphous oxide, depends on the catalytic system and reaction conditions.