Methanol to Olefins (MTO): From Fundamentals to Commercialization

The methanol-to-olefins (MTO) reaction is an interesting and important reaction for both fundamental research and industrial application. The Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) has developed a MTO technology that led to the successful construction and operation of the world's first coal to olefin plant in 2010. This historical perspective gives a brief summary on the key issues for the process development, including studies on the reaction mechanism, molecular sieve synthesis and crystallization mechanism, catalyst and its manufacturing scale up, reactor selection and reactor scale up, process demonstration, and commercialization. Further challenges on the fundamental research and the directions for future catalyst improvement are also suggested

Methyl Halide to Olefins and Gasoline over Zeolites and SAPO Catalysts:A New Route of MTO and MTG

Rational and efficient conversion of methane to more useful higher hydrocarbons is one of the most important topics of natural gas utilization.Although methane activation and its conversion to valuable compounds attract an increasing attention,methane conversion is often made in indirect way through the very energy-consuming step for syngas production from steam reforming of methane.Some promising results appeared to be of significance for the development of an alternative and potential route for the production of high value-added products from methane.Efficient conversion of methane to higher hydrocarbons could be realized via methyl halide as the intermediate.After the production of halomethane,they could be transformed to gasoline and light olefins over modified zeolites and SAPO molecular sieves.High conversion efficiency and selectivity indicated the feasibility of industrial application.The research gained recently growing interest from the point of view in both fundamental research and industrial application.The study on the reaction mechanism shed light on the possible route of C-C bond construction from methyl halide,which is the very important issue of the C1-reactant conversion to higher hydrocarbons.Hydrogen halide generation during methyl halide conversion did not exert apparent impact on the reaction mechanism and the structure stability of the catalysts.This review deals with the evolution of the field and comments the advantages to be explored and the drawbacks to be prevented for the development of new and sustainable methane-to-olefins（MTO） and methane-to-gasoline（MTG） routes via methyl halides

Cartografia e memoria: alcuni argomenti in favore del nozionismo nella didattica della geografia

Insegnando geografia alla Facoltà di Lettere, accade spesso d’imbattersi in alcuni esilaranti e deprimenti errori (figli di un’imperitura rivoluzione culturale che da decenni combatte il nozionismo) dai quali possono derivare utili informazioni. Lo studente che, innanzi ad una carta muta del Polo Nord, matura il dubbio che possa trattarsi del Polo Sud, in prima battuta genera depressione e ilarità; in un secondo momento, tuttavia, induce a riflettere sull’esistenza di una singolare memoria selettiva che fa ricordare (pur vagamente) il reticolato di una proiezione polare e non il disegno della Terra (richiamando alla mente i racconti di Oliver Sacks). Insieme ad altri esempi, questo fa riflettere sulla funzione e sull’influenza della cartografia nella formazione geografica degli studenti, imponendo il dovere di cercare una via per porre ordine nella farraginosa selva di ricordi, così da trasformare la tanto vituperata “nozione” nella più nobile “memoria”

Methanol-to-olefin induction reaction over SAPO-34

The methanol-to-olefin induction reaction over the SAPO-34 was performed using a fluidized-bed system. We found that the whole induction period could be divided into three reaction stages. Further investigation of the reaction kinetics revealed that this induction reaction behavior was different from that over H-ZSM-5 catalyst. Compared with the H-ZSM-5, the generation of initial active centers is easier over SAPO-34 because of its limited diffusivity and the spatial confinement effect of the cages. However, the autocatalysis reaction stage is difficult over SAPO-34 because of the continuous formation of inactive methyladamantanes. (C) 2016, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved