Energy-efficient plastic production
New catalytic membrane means faster, more energy-efficient and cheaper raw materials
28 May 2010
Davide Crapanzano of the University of Twente and the IMPACT research institute has demonstrated the conditions under which a new catalytic membrane can be used for the cheaper, faster and more energy-efficient production of raw materials for the plastics industry. In this way propane can be more quickly converted into propene, and then for example into polypropene, which is used as a raw material for garden furniture, car components and other products. Crapanzano obtained his PhD on 28 May from the Faculty of Science and Technology.
Most plastics are manufactured from crude oil, and the
processing of crude oil generates many alkanes, which are
hydrocarbons that can really only be used as fuel. If these alkanes
are converted into compounds that can be used as building blocks
for plastics, however, they can be used in many other ways. Davide
Crapanzano of the University of Twente has demonstrated the
conditions under which a new catalytic membrane can be used to
selectively convert alkanes into ingredients for plastic products
such as garden furniture and car components.
Selective oxidation
In the petrochemical industry the conversion of alkanes
into monomers, the building blocks of plastics, is carried out
through selective oxidation. In this process oxygen is used to
change the hydrocarbons into the desired molecules. Selective
oxidation has been used on a large scale for many years. The great
disadvantage of the process, however, is that it only produces a
small amount of the end product, because the desired molecules
continue reacting very quickly, with the result that they combust,
leaving CO2 and water. That results in high costs, many
waste products and high energy use to separate the desired products
from all the unwanted products. Crapanzano developed a new way of
avoiding these drawbacks. Instead of mixing the alkane with oxygen,
the PhD student used a membrane that is capable of conducting the
oxygen ions. On one side of the membrane oxygen ions are produced
from molecular oxygen, while on its other side the oxygen ions
selectively react with the alkane, for example converting propane
into propene. This prevents the desired products from oxidizing any
further. Davide investigated which materials are capable of
reacting selectively with propane, and the conditions under which
this is possible. It turned out that the concentration of the
oxygen ions in particular has a major influence. The potential cost
reductions are huge.
Note for the press
Davide Crapanzano will obtain his PhD on Friday 28 May
from the Faculty of Science and Technology. He carried out his
research in the Catalytic Processes and Materials research group
and the IMPACT research institute, in collaboration with the
Inorganic Membranes group. His tutors were Prof. Leon Lefferts and
Dr Igor Babich. His thesis 'Reactivity of Oxygen Ions in Mixed
Oxides in Dehydrogenation of Propane' is available in digital form
on request.
Contact person for the press: Rianne Wanders,
053-4892721.
