Gas-phase dehydration of ethanol to ethylene was studied over ν-alumina catalyst in a tubular packed bed reactor, and its cyclic operation was also investigated experimentally.
The effect of temperature（300-375 ℃） and liquid feed rate(0.041-0.321 cc/sec) on formation of ethylene and ether was investigated, and from experimental results and by means of a mathematical model the reaction system was found to be composed of dehydration of ethanol to ethylene, reaction of ethanol to ether and its dehydration to ethylene. The activation energy of each reaction step was estimated from variations in rate constant with reaction temperature. The effect of intraphase diffusional resistance on the reaction was also investigated. Cyclic operation was performed by cycling liquid feed rate in order to see whether yield of ethylene was improved. Experimental results indicated that a small increase in production rate could be obtained in comparison with a steady state operation at the time average feed rate.