Prospects for Progress in Developing Production Processes for the Synthesis of Olefins Based on Light Alkanes

Catalytic processes and production facilities for the production of olefins based on light alkanes and various oil fractions are reviewed. Modern traditional industrial technologies for the pyrolysis and cracking of various hydrocarbon feedstocks and alternative catalytic processes for the production of olefins from methanol (MTO), coal (CTO), the oxidative dimerization of methane into ethylene (OCM), the Fischer–Tropsch process (FTO), and the dehydrogenation of C 2 –C 5 hydrocarbons are discussed. Designs of catalytic reactors, optimal modes of their industrial operation, and efficient industrial catalytic systems are described. The activity and selectivity of new zeolite-containing catalysts based on Pt, as well as on Cr, V, Mo, Ga oxides and Co, Ni, Sn, Ce, In, Cu, Zn, and Fe, in the dehydrogenation of light alkanes are analyzed. The effects of the nature of the active sites of the catalysts, the structure and properties of the substrate, and the methods of preparation of catalysts on the efficiency of their operation in the reactions of nonoxidative and oxidative dehydrogenation of C 2 –C 5 alkanes are considered.