A reaction network detailing the
formation and consumption of all
C1–C3 products of propylene oxidation
on Bi2Mo3O12 at 623 K is developed
to show that acrolein, acetaldehyde, acetone, and acetic acid are
direct oxidation products of propylene while acrylic acid and ethylene
are secondary products. Coprocessing acetaldehyde, acetone, acrylic
acid, and acetic acid, separately, with propylene, oxygen, and water
revealed (i) the existence of overoxidation reactions of acrolein
to acrylic acid and ethylene and oxidation pathways from acetone to
acetaldehyde and acetic acid, (ii) the promotional effects of water
on the synthesis rates of acetaldehyde from acrolein, acetone from
propylene, and acetic acid from acetaldehyde and acrylic acid, and
(iii) the inhibitory effects of water on the decomposition of acetic
acid to CO
x
and acrylic acid to acetaldehyde
and ethylene. A kinetic model is developed to quantitatively capture
the kinetic behavior of all species using pseudo-first-order rate
expressions in the organic reactant for all reaction pathways; additional
promotional and inhibitory dependencies on water pressure were added
to describe the kinetics of reaction rates affected by water. Based
on the proposition that multiple types of active sites exist on the
mixed metal oxide surface during propylene oxidation, a detailed mechanistic
network is postulated that describes all molecular transformations
with relevant surface intermediates and provides critical insights
into the underlying pathways involved in overoxidation and C–C
bond scission reactions.