Acid-Catalyzed Formation of Ethyl-Butyl Ethers in Near- and Supercritical Water

近临界和超临界水中酸催化生成乙基丁基醚

• 批准号: 9111743
• 负责人: Michael Antal
• 金额: $ 22.46万
• 依托单位: University of Hawaii
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 1991
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1991-09-01 至 1995-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9111743&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Acid; Catalyzed; Formation; Ethyl; Butyl

The world-wide market for methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE, an octane enhancer) is projected to reach 26 billion pounds per year during the 1990's. A recent ARCO study concludes that ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE) is a more desirable fuel additive than MBTE. Conventional technology requires distillation of fermentation ethanol prior to the synthesis of ETBE. One focus of this proposal is the acid-catalyzed synthesis of ETBE in near- or supercritical water, thereby avoiding costly distillation. Because ETBE is insoluble in water, separation of ETBE from the aqueous phase exiting the reactor is facile. A second focus of this proposal is the acid-catalyzed synthesis of a mixture of ethyl butyl ethers (EBE) in near- or supercritical water from fermentation products ethanol and 1-butanol. Mixed EBE's should have fuel properties similar the ETBE, and would be a fully renewable high octane fuel additive. The proposed research emphasizes kinetic studies of the acid-catalyzed mechanism of ether formation in near- and supercritical water using two plug flow reactors. Kinetic models developed during this work will be useful for reactor design and scale-up. This research will also help to clarify the extent to which kinetics can be used to detail mechanism.

全球甲基叔丁基醚（一种辛烷值增强剂）市场预计在1990年代将达到每年260亿磅。ARCO最近的一项研究得出结论，乙基叔丁基醚（ETBE）是比MBTE更理想的燃料添加剂。传统技术需要在合成ETBE之前蒸馏发酵乙醇。这个建议的一个重点是酸催化合成ETBE在接近或超临界水，从而避免昂贵的蒸馏。因为ETBE不溶于水，所以从反应器的水相中分离ETBE是很容易的。本提案的第二个重点是酸催化合成乙基丁基醚混合物（EBE）在近或超临界水从发酵产物乙醇和1-丁醇。混合EBE应该具有与ETBE相似的燃料特性，并且是一种完全可再生的高辛烷值燃料添加剂。本研究重点研究了在超临界和近超临界水中用两个塞流反应器进行酸催化生成乙醚的动力学研究。在这项工作中建立的动力学模型将有助于反应堆的设计和放大。这项研究也将有助于澄清动力学可以用于详细机制的程度。