A catalyst for oxidative dehydrogenation of alkanes includes a substrate including an oxide; at least one promoter including a transition metal or a main group element of the periodic table; and an oxidation-active transition metal. The catalyst is multimetallic.

A hydrogenolysis catalyst comprises a catalytic component that includes copper oxide, manganese oxide, and aluminum oxide, and a binder that includes a zirconium component, wherein the catalyst comprises at least about 30.0 wt % copper oxide, and the catalyst is substantially free of silicon or an oxide thereof. The hydrogenolysis catalysts are effective for converting fatty acid esters to fatty alcohols.

Systems and methods for processing a C.sub.3 and C.sub.4 hydrocarbon mixture have been disclosed. The C.sub.3 and C.sub.4 hydrocarbon mixture is first processed in an isomerization unit to isomerize n-butane to form isobutane. The resulting effluent stream from the isomerization unit comprising primarily isobutane and C.sub.3 hydrocarbons, collectively, is flowed into a separation unit configured to separate the effluent stream to form a C.sub.3 stream comprising C.sub.1 to C.sub.3 hydrocarbons and a C.sub.4 stream comprising primarily isobutane. The isobutane in the C.sub.4 stream is further dehydrogenated to form isobutene, which is further flowed into an MTBE synthesis unit as a feedstock for producing MTBE.

A process for preparing C.sub.2 to C.sub.3 hydrocarbons may include introducing a feed stream including hydrogen gas and a carbon-containing gas comprising carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and mixtures thereof into a reaction zone of a reactor, and converting the feed stream into a product stream comprising C.sub.2 to C.sub.3 hydrocarbons in the reaction zone in the presence of a hybrid catalyst. The hybrid catalyst may include a metal oxide catalyst component and a microporous catalyst component comprising 8-MR pore openings and may be derived from a natural mineral, the product stream comprises a combined C.sub.2 and C.sub.3 selectivity greater than 40 carbon mol%.

Disclosed herein are embodiments of a method and system for converting ethanol to para-xylene. The method also provides a pathway to produce terephthalic acid from biomass-based feedstocks. In some embodiments, the disclosed method produces p-xylene with high selectivity over other aromatics typically produced in the conversion of ethanol to xylenes, such as m-xylene, ethyl benzene, benzene, toluene, and the like. And, in some embodiments, the method facilitates the ability to use ortho/para mixtures of methylbenzyaldehyde for preparing ortho/para xylene product mixtures that are amendable to fractionation to separate the para- and ortho-xylene products thereby providing a pure feedstock of para-xylene that can be used to form terephthalic anhydride and a pure feedstock of ortho-xylene that can be used for other purposes, such as phthalic anhydride.

According to one or more embodiments described herein, a method for dehydrogenating hydrocarbons may include passing a hydrocarbon feed comprising one or more alkanes or alkyl aromatics into a fluidized bed reactor, contacting the hydrocarbon feed with a dehydrogenation catalyst in the fluidized bed reactor to produce a dehydrogenated product and hydrogen, and contacting the hydrogen with an oxygen-rich oxygen carrier material in the fluidized bed reactor to combust the hydrogen and form an oxygen-diminished oxygen carrier material. In additional embodiments, a dual-purpose material may be utilized which has dehydrogenation catalyst and oxygen carrying functionality.

The present invention features a direct synthesis of light olefins through the hydrogenation of carbon dioxide. In.sub.2O.sub.3 supported on cubic phase yttria-stabilized zirconia is used as a catalyst and is mixed with a molecular sieve to perform the hydrogenation. The cubic crystal structure of the yttria-stabilized zirconium dioxide is an excellent support for indium oxide particles and prevents their deactivation during CO.sub.2 hydrogenation. This direct synthesis route promotes a stable and efficient method for producing light olefins.

Provided is a method of producing a conjugated diene, including a step of dehydrating a γ,δ-unsaturated alcohol in the presence of a solid acid catalyst having a Hammett acidity function (H.sub.0) of −12.2 or less.

Provided is a technique of producing isoprene from 3-methyl-1,3-butanediol or 1,3-butadiene from 1,3-butanediol by using a single catalyst. A catalyst produces a conjugated diene containing zirconium oxide and calcium oxide in order to produce isoprene by removing two water molecules from one 3-methyl-1,3-butanediol molecule or produce 1,3-butadiene by removing two water molecules from one 1,3-butanediol molecule. Furthermore, a method for producing a conjugated diene includes a step of obtaining a fluid containing a conjugated diene that is isoprene or 1,3-butadiene by bringing a fluid containing 3-methyl-1,3-butanediol or a fluid containing 1,3-butanediol into contact with the catalyst for producing a conjugated diene as a single catalyst so as to cause a dehydration reaction to proceed.

Catalytic dehydrogenation of a light alkane gas on a metal oxide catalyst is achieved by (a) pretreating the metal oxide catalyst with dimethylether (DME); and (b) reacting the alkane gas catalytically on the catalyst in a dehydrogenation reaction, under conditions wherein the pretreating improves product yield of the reaction.