Highly selective, energy-free, and environmentally friendly one-pot production of linear α-olefin from biomass-derived organic acid in a dual-bed catalyst system

Abstract

Linear α-olefins (LAOs) such as 1-heptene and 1-octene are in high demand in the petrochemical industry. The increasing concerns about the environment and resource depletion have raised the importance of new technologies for producing LAOs from sustainable resources. We report for the first time the direct production of 1-octene from biomass-derived octanoic acid using a dual-bed catalyst system of RuSn/SiO2 and Al2O3. In this new catalyst system, the catalyst bed configuration and reaction temperature profile were found to be critical factors in controlling the 1-octene yield and purity. We obtained an unprecedented high 1-octene yield of 69.4% with 83.9% purity after optimization of the dual-bed catalyst system. Based on the experimental results, simulation models were developed to analyze the mass flow and energy efficiency of the new catalytic process that can convert 283 t per d of octanoic acid into 152 t per d of 1-octene. Life cycle assessment results proved that the newly-developed dual-bed catalyst system for 1-octene production from bio-based octanoic acid could be a key technology for producing environmentally sustainable LAOs with 56% lower CO2 emissions than conventional petroleum-based LAOs (6.51 vs. 14.95 kg CO2 eq.).