Catalytic Conversion of Low Alcohol to Hydrocarbons: Challenges, Prospects, and Future Work Considerations

Abstract

Energy sources will contribute enormously to global economic development in the coming years. Global energy sectors mainly depend on fossil fuels, which contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. With the threat of declining oil supplies and the need to reduce CO2 emissions, the development of viable substitutes for fossil fuels is high on the global priority list. Currently, there is an increased focus on using low alcohols as fuels and petrochemicals. Catalytic conversion is a viable approach for upgrading low alcohols to fuels and value-added chemicals. This review study shows that optimal catalyst modification improves catalytic performance in the volarization of bioethanol. Heterogeneous catalysts are widely used in bioethanol conversion due to their activity. However, further studies are needed to address the challenges of limited selectivity, catalyst deactivation, recovery, and regeneration for improved biofuel production.

Renewable energy investments in South Africa: Potentials and challenges for a sustainable transition - a review

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Bioethanol as a potential eco‐friendlier feedstock for catalytic production of fuels and petrochemicals

“…Research has shown that zeolite acidity has a substantial impact on the efficiency in terms of ethylene specificity and catalyst stability. Strong acidic sites at considerable concentration may facilitate ethylene's secondary processes, including oligomerization, cracking, and coking, which results in the formation of higher hydrocarbons and some carbon deposits on the catalyst 53,55‐57 . It was discovered that Si/Al ratios ranging from 35 to 55 were able to achieve significant ethylene specificity while still achieving excellent performance and stability.…”

Sustainable fuels: Lower alcohols perspective

“…Thus, they are considered a green sustainable alternative due to their ability to avoid using harmful substrates and producing toxic wastes ( 52 ; Zhang et al, 2019). The most commonly used heterogeneous catalysts include transition metal oxides, rare earth metals, supported metal catalysts, hydroxyapatites (HAP) (Wang et al, 2018 53 ;) and zeolites ( 54,55 ; Y 56,57 …”