ZEOLITE CATALYSIS FOR A BETTER ENVIRONMENT

To meet the regulations of The Clean Air Acts, solid acid alkylation and isomerization of alkanes and naphthenes have become important processes for producing high-octane blending components in gasoline. To reduce the costs associated with filtration and disposal of chemical waste, the chemical industry has to switch from homogeneous or unsupported heterogenous catalysts to supported catalysts. Zeolite catalysts are playing an ever-increasing role in the petroleum refining and chemicals manufacturing processes. In the areas of acid catalysis by zeolites, recent publications on isobutane alkylation, alkane isomerization, alkene interconversion and isomerization, phenol alkylation and oxygenate production are reviewed. Also reviewed in the areas of basic zeolite catalysis is the patent literature on isomerization of propylene oxide to allyl alcohol, double-bond isomerization of alkenes and ethoxylation of glycol.