Study of supported metal catalysts for production of olefins from CO2 hydrogenation reactions via methanolic route

• Grant number: 24/00032-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: January 01, 2025
• End date: February 28, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Chemical Engineering - Chemical Technology
• Principal Investigator: Elisabete Moreira Assaf
• Grantee: Gabriela Santanna Zanelli
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química de São Carlos (IQSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Company: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola Politécnica (EP)
• Associated research grant: 20/15230-5 - Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Innovation - RCG2I, AP.PCPE
• Associated scholarship(s): 25/09667-5 - Kinetic Evaluation of Supported Metal Catalysts for Olefin Production from CO2 Hydrogenation Reactions via the Methanol Route, BE.EP.DR

Abstract

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a greenhouse gas, which production has been intensified in recent decades, generating its accumulation in the atmosphere. Therefore, numerous negative environmental changes, such as the worsening of the greenhouse effect, have been occurring all over the planet. Aware of this problem, it is necessary to find strategies to control and reduce emissions of this gas. In this sense, the catalytic hydrogenation of CO2 is a carbon recycling technology that has been widely explored in recent years. One very attractive route for using CO2 is for the production to olefins, organic compounds of great importance in different industrial segments. Despite the various studies published to date, the hydrogenation of CO2 to olefins, via the methanolic route, still presents a series of limiting factors that make its use on an industrial scale unfeasible, such as low selectivity, catalyst deactivation and reaction temperature adjustment. Seeking to contribute to minimizing these obstacles, this project proposes the development of tandem catalysts for this reaction, using structures of the hydrotalcite with different metals, for the production of methanol, and SAPO-34 zeolite as catalytic support, for MTO (methanol to olefins). Through synthesis, characterization and evaluation of catalysts, the objective is to develop a unique process to obtain low molecular mass olefins from the hydrogenation of CO2 via the methanolic route.