Page 153 - CW E-Magazine (27-5-2025)

Special Report

A rapid wrap-up of what’s new in Operations,

Processes and Products

Catalytic Processes

catalyst. Aspects of catalyst deactiva-
tion are also covered (could be from impu-
rities in paraformaldehyde). POMDMEs
are reported to be a good additive for
diesel to reduce pollution. (Chem. Eng.
Sci., 2025, 306, 1 March, 121216;
DOI: 10.1016/j.ces.2025.121216).

Modifi ed oxymethylene
dimethyl ethers (OMEs) based
on technical alcohol mixtures
and their fuel properties
[This column has covered work on
OMEs based on methanol and HCHO.]
Green synthesis of tert-butyl Di-tert-butyl peroxide is also formed.
hydroperoxide (TBHPO) via The above reactor has many advan- V.Z. Francesconi et al have come out
oxidation of tert-butanol (B) in tages. (J. Chem. Technol. Biotechnol., with the title ethers based on mixed
alcohols which may come from fer-
various reactors 2025; DOI: 10.1002/jctb.7821). mentation or via oxo processes. Thus

A. Shiue et al have used H SO by the Reaction of CH OH with C-4-alcohol isomer mixtures were
4
2
3
green and environmentally-friendly HCHO as paraformaldehyde studied, and these products can be used
H O as oxidant, and micro-channel to make polyoxymethylene as neat fuel or as blending component
2
2
reactor, Corning Advanced-Flow, was dimethyl ethers (POMDMEs) for fossil or paraffi nic diesel fuels. The
used. The reaction temperature was reactions are catalysed in some way as
70°C and the optimal molar ratio of B to X. Wang et al have studied the kinetics with CH OH + HCHO.
3
H SO was assessed as 1:1 and the opti- of the title reaction in a fi xed-bed reac-
2
4
mum molar ratio of H O to B was 0:8. tor using cation ion exchange resin as Performance of Fe-Mo
2 2
catalysts with Li/Na/K
promoters for methanol
oxidation to HCHO
The production of HCHO via cata-
lytic oxidation of methanol is widely
practiced and Fe-Mo catalysts are
employed. J. Li et al have studied the
role of Li/Na/K as promoters for the
above catalysts. This study investigates
the infl uence of the above alkali metal
on the morphology, structure, surface
properties, and catalytic performance
of Fe-Mo catalysts. The detailed varia-
Schematic diagram of the experimental setup: the continuous fl ow reaction systems include tion in the catalysts is reported. Li pro-
(A) AFR, (B) tubular reactor, and (C) AFR connected to an external pipe (D) Batch reactor moter improves catalyst selectivity and

Chemical Weekly May 27, 2025 153

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