Synthesis of 1,3-Butadiene from 1-Butanol on a Porous Ceramic [Fe,Cr]/γ-Al2O3(K,Ce)/α-Al2O3 Catalytic Converter

—A two-stage method was developed for the synthesis of 1,3-butadiene by dehydration of 1-butanol to a mixture of butenes on γ-Al2O3 granules prepared by self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) followed by dehydrogenation of the butene fraction to 1,3-butadiene using a porous ceramic catalytic SHS converter [Fe,Cr]/γ-Al2O3(K,Ce)/α-Al2O3. The dehydration of 1-butanol to the butene mixture proceeded almost completely at ~100% selectivity on γ-Al2O3 granules obtained by SHS at 300°C, which is 50 degrees lower than on industrial gamma-alumina granules. The use of an original hybrid catalytic membrane reactor (HCMR) with selective removal of hydrogen from the reaction zone led to a ~1.3-fold increase in the yield of 1,3-butadiene at ultrapure hydrogen extraction of up to 16 mol % of the total amount of the hydrogen product. The catalytic activity of the system did not decrease after 20 h of experiment, in contrast to its activity in the industrial process, where catalyst regeneration is performed every 8–15 min.