Recently, the Qian Weizhong - Cui Chaojie team from Ordos Laboratory reported a technology for efficient production of ethylene and propylene f rom C5 alkanes in the international journal Chemical Engineering Journal.

It is well known that mixed C5 and C9 fractions have long been among the most difficult products to utilize in the petrochemical industry. Compared with C5 olefins, C5 alkanes are even more challenging to use. In current industry, such products are even subject to fuel taxes, leading to poor economic performance. In recent years, with the rapid development of modern coal chemical industry, processes like coal-to-liquid, methanol-to-olefins, methanol-to-aromatics, and syngas-to-olefins have generated significant amounts of mixed C5 alkanes and other low-value hydrocarbons with similar activity. Statistics show that the cumulative domestic production of mixed C5 alkanes has reached tens of millions of tons, urgently requiring efficient conversion technologies.

Addressing this common industrial challenge, the Qian Weizhong - Cui Chaojie team undertook national research projects, using pentane as a model compound to explore the production of olefins and aromatics. The study reports a core–shell metal–zeolite catalyst structure that enhances alkane dehydrogenation, designs diffusion channels within the zeolite, and modifies its acidity. It effectively suppresses the aromatic cycle while enhancing the olefin cycle. As a result, under high single-pass conversion, ethylene and propylene become the main products, achieving a combined yield of low-carbon olefins and p-xylene exceeding 62%. The catalyst can also be used continuously through reaction–regeneration cycles.

The team has recently optimized the technology further, significantly improving catalyst life per cycle and reducing energy consumption. This technology can effectively utilize existing mixed alkane feedstocks and separation infrastructure in factories. By only constructing key reaction units, the process can be flexibly integrated with industrial setups, providing a high degree of operational flexibility that facilitates coal chemical and petrochemical enterprises to increase production of high-value-added ethylene and propylene.