The catalytic dehydrogenation of C2H6 to C2H4 under non-oxidative conditions over the 6Cr/γ-Al2O3 catalyst

In the present paper, the catalytic dehydrogenation of C2H6 to C2H4 under nonoxidative conditions was investigated in a fixed-bed micro-reactor under ambient pressure at 823 - 923 K. The 6Cr/gamma-Al2O3 catalyst was found to be the best catalyst among the gamma-Al2O3, SiO2, MCM41, MgO and Si-2 supported chromium oxide catalysts. The features of the 6Cr/gamma-Al2O3 catalyst for the reaction could be listed as follows: (1) At 823 - 923 K, the C2H4 selectivity of 92.5-78.6% at a C2H6 conversion of 9.5-29.8% could be obtained. (2) The catalyst had the good regeneration performance, i.e., could be regenerated by air repeatedly. (3) The main products were C2H4, CH4, H-2 and coke. No carbon oxides were identified.