Synthesis of Oxymethylene Ethers
Dissertation
Zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Doktor der Naturwissenschaften (Dr. rer. nat.)
vorgelegt an der Fakultät für Chemie und Biochemie der Ruhr-Universität Bochum von
Anna Grünert
Bochum Oktober 2019
Die vorliegende Arbeit wurde in der Zeit von Februar 2016 bis Oktober 2019 in der Abteilung für Heterogene Katalyse am Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung in Mülheim an der Ruhr unter der Leitung von Prof. Dr. Ferdi Schüth angefertigt.
Referent: Prof. Dr. Ferdi Schüth
Korreferent: Prof. Dr. Martin Muhler
I
I Acknowledgements
Firstly, I would like to thank my team of supervisors, Prof. Dr. Ferdi Schüth and Dr. Wolfgang Schmidt, and my co-examiner Prof. Dr. Martin Muhler. Ferdi, I would like to thank you for your trust that is the basis of the exceptional freedom of work, which you grant not only to me, but to all of your PhD students. You gave me the resources, time and liberty to develop my PhD project in my own way, to make mistakes, to solve challenging problems and to grow as a person. I am grateful for your appreciation of a cooperative and welcoming atmosphere in the group, which is most apparent in your yearly invitation to the group trip to Oberwesel. Wolfgang, I owe my thanks to you for your advice on many topics including material synthesis, catalyst characterisation and manuscript writing. I very much appreciate your welcoming and relaxed attitude. I am also thankful that to you both that you enjoy sharing your knowledge and experience with me and my colleagues in catalysis seminars and other technical seminars and in the focused project meetings. Prof. Muhler, thank you for taking interest in my work and for agreeing to be the co-examiner. The practical realisation of this work would not have been possible without the help of the staff of service departments, the technical staff of Schüth group and fellow PhD students. This is why I feel fortunate to have worked in close cooperation with the team of the Feinmechanics workshop including Wolfgang Kersten, Dirk Ullner, Knut Gräfenstein, Jürgen Majer, Sebastian Plankert and Ralf Thomas. Big thanks to all of you for your technical support and your exceptional willingness to help students in building and maintaining catalytic test equipment. Dirk, thank you so much for your fast and competent support when my set-up gave me troubles. It was also a pleasure to learn about set-up design, properties of steels and other materials and to get an introduction to the tools used in the workshop. Knut and Dirk, I will truly miss your ability to cheer me up with your special humour. I always felt welcomed at the Feinmechanics workshop. I would also like to acknowledge the contributions of locksmith and glassblower workshops to my project. In the pressure lab, where my catalytic test set-up was located, Nils Theyssen, Niklas Fuhrmann and Lars Winkel made sure that everyday operation of set-ups and lab II
infrastructure ran smoothly. I owe my thanks to you and to my box neighbours Rene Albert, Dr. Robert Urbanczyk, Kateryna Peinecke and Özgül Sener for regularly helping me out with technical advice and spare parts. In the main lab, the technical staff André Pommerin, Laila Sahraoui and Flo Baum and their team of apprentices made sure that the lab was always safe and functional. Thank you for being approachable and helpful and for knowing where to find all kinds of things. I also owe many thanks to the staff of NMR, electron microscopy, HPLC, GC and IT departments including Dr. Bodo Zibrowius, Silvia Palm, Georg Breitenbruch, Frank Kohler, Philipp Schulze, Marjan Tomas and Marcus Hermes. I learned a lot from my colleagues Dr. Nicolas Duyckaerts, Dr. Ioan-Teodor Trotus, Dr. Daniel Wendt, Dr. Cristina Ochoa-Hernández, Dr. Pit Losch and Hrishikesh Joshi. Nico, Teo and Daniel, thank you for your patience in sharing your knowledge about Swagelok, flow set-ups and reactors. I am grateful for your input regarding the design and assembly of my test set-up at the beginning of my PhD project. Cristina, Pit and Hrishi, I appreciated your interest in my project and our fruitful discussions about chemistry. Of course, there is more to a PhD than working in the lab. I feel thankful for having gotten to know so many inspiring, kind and open fellow researchers. You have made me feel deeply connected to this group and have made my PhD time very enjoyable. I would like to express my gratitude towards my colleagues Özgül Agbaba Sener, Rene Albert, Dr. Ghith Al-Shaal, Dr. Amol Amrute, Alex Bähr, Adrian Barranco, Tugce Beyazay, Marius Bilke, Alex Bodach, Joel Britschgi, Eko Budiyanto, Dr. Matthew Clough, Dr. Yitao Dai, Dr. Isabel de Freitas, Jacopo de Bellis, Dr. Michael Dierks, Dr. Georgios “Jorro” Dodekatos, Dr. Rene Eckert, Dr. Michael Felderhoff, Jessica González, Alexander Hopf, Dr. Daniel Jalalpoor, Kai Jeske, Hrishikesh Joshi, Dr. Marco Kennema, Dr. Jonglack Kim, Klara Kley, Dr. Pit Losch, Dr. Gun-Hee Moon, Dr. Valentina Nese, Edward Nürenberg, Dr. Cristina Ochoa-Hernández, Ezgi Onur Sahin, Dr. Seyma Ortatatli, Dr. Jochen Ortmeyer, Kateryna Peinecke, Dr. Hilke Petersen, Dr. Christian Pichler, Dr. Gonzalo Prieto, Steffen Reichle, Dr. Bidyut Sarma, Dr. Hannah Schreyer, Dr. Stefan Schünemann, Niklas Stegmann, Dr. Harun Tüysüz, Dr. Robert Urbanczyk, Dr. Olena Vozniuk, Dr. Claudia Weidenthaler, Frederik Winkelmann, Mingquan Yu and all other colleagues that I may have forgotten to mention. III
Thank you for spending time with me in the lab, at Mensa, in the social room, at lunch group, at group and cake seminars and other social events. Also, I am glad that some of you never forgot how to celebrate and dance. Edward, Niklas, Alex, Özgül and Cristina, it was great to share an office with you. I have appreciated the focused working atmosphere on the one hand and your openness to share matters of every-day life on the other hand. Thank you for your moral support and your valuable advice. Annette Krappweis und Kirsten Kalischer, your assistance in organisational issues was of great help. For financial support of my PhD, I would like to acknowledge the Max Planck Society and Fonds der chemischen Industrie. My participation in the JungChemikerForum Mülheim during my time at the Max-Planck- Institut für Kohlenforschung was also a great experience. It made me feel more connected to colleagues from the other research groups of this institute Minh Dao, Lorenz Löffler, Jonas Börgel, Jens Rickmeier, Suzanne Willems, Fabio Caló, Christine Schulz, Tobias Biberger, Julius Hillenbrand, Van Anh Tran, Marc Heinrich, Sebastian Beeg, Simon Musch, Christina Erken and those that I unfortunately forgot to mention, I would like to thank you for great team work and for your trust when I was your speaker. Last, but not least, I would like to express my gratitude towards my parents Wolfgang and Tanja Grünert and my partner Arne Schüttler. They have supported me during my bachelor’s and master’s degree and during my PhD project. Dad, thank you for passing on your appreciation for sciences, literature and music and especially for sharing your passion for chemistry. Mum, thank you for your unconditional moral support in all situations and for teaching me openness and curiousness. Arne, thank you for sharing your daily life with me, including its challenges and joyful moments. I am deeply grateful for your continuous trust and encouragement over the years. IV V
II Table of contents
I Acknowledgements ...... I II Table of contents ...... V III Abbreviations ...... VIII 1 Thesis abstract ...... 1 2 Introduction ...... 2 2.1 Synthetic fuels ...... 2
2.1.1 Chemical CO2 recycling ...... 2 2.1.2 Drop-in fuels ...... 3 2.1.3 Reduction of diesel emissions ...... 4 2.2 Oxymethylene ethers ...... 5 2.2.1 Physicochemical and fuel related properties of OME ...... 5 2.2.2 Development and future challenges of OME research ...... 7 2.2.3 Synthesis ...... 8 2.3 Solid acid catalysis ...... 12 2.3.1 Zeolites ...... 13 2.3.2 Supported liquid phase catalysts ...... 16 2.3.3 Characterisation methods ...... 18 2.4 Methanol dehydrogenation ...... 20 2.4.1 Oxidative vs. non-oxidative route ...... 20 2.4.2 Catalysts ...... 21 3 Motivation and research objectives ...... 23 4 Description of test set-up ...... 25 4.1 Concept ...... 25 4.2 Technical implementation ...... 26 4.2.1 Gas and pressure control ...... 27 4.2.2 Evaporator unit ...... 27 4.2.3 Heating ...... 28 4.2.4 Reactor ...... 28 4.3 Product analysis ...... 29 4.4 Safety features ...... 30 4.5 Extensions for combined process ...... 31 5 Screening of reaction conditions ...... 33 5.1 Temperature ...... 33 5.2 Pressure ...... 36 5.3 Reactant ratio ...... 37 VI
5.4 Water content ...... 38 5.5 Pellet Size ...... 38 5.6 Catalyst activation protocol ...... 38 5.7 Reproducibility ...... 39 6 Preliminary catalyst screening ...... 40 7 OME synthesis over zeolite catalysts ...... 42 7.1 Catalyst screening ...... 42 7.2 Correlation between acid site properties and catalyst performance ...... 43 7.3 Influence of particle size and external surface area ...... 49 7.4 Adaptation of reaction conditions ...... 50 7.5 Catalyst deactivation and regeneration ...... 51 7.6 Comparison of siliceous materials ...... 52 7.7 Conclusions ...... 54 8 OME synthesis over supported phosphoric acid ...... 55 8.1 Catalyst Characterisation ...... 56
8.2 Preliminary studies of exemplary H3PO4/C catalyst ...... 59
8.3 Impact of H3PO4 loading ...... 60 8.4 Sodium phosphates ...... 61 8.5 Comparison with benchmark zeolite ...... 63 8.6 Conclusions ...... 65 9 Two-step synthesis of OME from methanol ...... 66 9.1 Thermal decomposition of formaldehyde ...... 67 9.2 Catalyst screening ...... 68 9.3 Combined process ...... 71 10 Summary and final remarks ...... 74 11 Experimental ...... 76 11.1 Commercial materials ...... 76 11.1.1 Gases ...... 76 11.1.2 Chemicals ...... 76 11.1.3 Catalysts and other solid materials ...... 77 11.2 Synthesis of catalysts ...... 78 11.2.1 Supported silicotungstic acid ...... 78
11.2.2 SBA-15-SO3H ...... 78 11.2.3 Silicalite-1 ...... 78 11.2.4 Supported phosphoric acid ...... 79 11.2.5 Methanol dehydrogenation catalysts ...... 79 11.3 Modification procedures ...... 80 11.3.1 Catalyst activation ...... 80 VII
11.3.2 Sodium exchange of zeolites ...... 80 11.3.3 Oxalic acid treatment of zeolites ...... 81 11.3.4 Regeneration protocols ...... 81 11.4 Characterisation methods ...... 81 11.4.1 X-ray powder diffraction (PXRD) ...... 81
11.4.2 Temperature programmed desorption of ammonia (NH3-TPD) ...... 81 11.4.3 Pyridine adsorption followed by FTIR spectroscopy (Py-FTIR) ...... 82 11.4.4 Magic-angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS-NMR) ...... 82 11.4.5 Thermogravimetric analysis coupled with mass spectrometry (TG-MS) ...... 82 11.4.6 Diffuse reflectance infrared spectroscopy (DRIFTS) ...... 83 11.4.7 Nitrogen physisorption ...... 83 11.4.8 GC-MS ...... 83 11.4.9 Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) ...... 83 11.4.10 Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) ...... 83 11.4.11 Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) ...... 84 11.4.12 Elemental analysis ...... 84 11.5 Batch reactions ...... 84 11.6 Wet-chemical analysis methods ...... 84 11.6.1 Preparation of methanolic formaldehyde solution ...... 84 11.6.2 Iodometry ...... 84 11.6.3 Karl-Fischer titration ...... 85 12 Appendix ...... 86 13 References to laboratory journal entries ...... 101 14 References ...... 104 VIII
III Abbreviations
Table 1.1: Abbreviations.
ALPO aluminophosphates pKa negative logarithm of acid dissociation constant BET Brunauer-Emmett-Teller PM particulate matter
CI compression ignition POM polyoxymethylene (polymer)
Xmax maximum conversion POMDME polyoxymethylene dimethyl ethers
DME dimethyl ether PXRD X-ray powder diffraction
DRIFTS diffuse reflectance infrared rpm revolutions/rotations per minute spectroscopy EDX energy dispersive X-ray S selectivity spectroscopy EFAl extra-framework aluminium SAPO silicoaluminophosphates
FA formaldehyde SAR silica-to-alumina ratio
FID flame ionization detector SEM scanning electron microscopy
FTIR Fourier transform infrared SI spark-ignition (spectroscopy) GC gas chromatography or SILP supported ionic liquid phase gas chromatograph GHG greenhouse gas Si-OH silanol group
HC hydrocarbons SLP supported liquid phase
HPA heteropoly acid Smax maximum selectivity
HPLC high-performance liquid SPA phosphoric acid supported on silica chromatography IR infrared STP standard temperature and pressure
Ka dissociation constant synair synthetic air
MAS magic angle spinning T in TO4 metal in tetrahedral oxygen environment MeOH methanol TCD Thermal conductivity detector IX
MFC mass flow controller TEM transmission electron microscopy mol% mole fraction TG thermogravimetric analysis
MS mass spectrometry TPD temperature programmed desorption NMR nuclear magnetic resonance TRI trioxane
NOx nitrogen oxides WHSV weight hourly space velocity
OME oxymethylene ether wt% mass fraction
PF paraformaldehyde 1 Thesis abstract
1 Thesis abstract
Oxymethylene ethers (OME) are a class of chain ethers that have been classified as pollutant reducing synthetic diesel additives in the late 1990s. In view of growing efforts to reduce hazardous emissions from the transport sector and to find alternatives to fossil-based fuels, OME have seen a rise in academic and industrial interest. Various synthesis routes that have methanol as a common intermediate have been reported. However, the production remains the main challenge for introduction of OME as a synthetic fuel.
This work explores the gas-phase synthesis of OME from methanol and formaldehyde as an alternative approach to common liquid-phase routes. In particular, the investigation of solid catalysts for this reaction is the focus of the conducted studies.
For this purpose, a versatile test set-up was built and suitable reaction conditions were identified. The comparison of a selection of solid acid catalysts highlighted the activity of zeolites in gas-phase OME synthesis. In a systematic study of a broad range of zeolite catalysts, a relation between catalyst reactivity and silica-to-alumina ratio was established. It could be shown that low amounts of acid sites are favourable for OME selectivity and that strong acid sites are linked to by-product formation. Carbon supported phosphoric acid was furthermore found to be an active catalyst for the gas-phase synthesis of OME with a superior lifetime as compared to benchmark zeolite catalysts. Steady-state conversion and selectivity were comparable at the same loading of active centres. In view of the simple preparation and low cost of H3PO4/C, it provides an attractive alternative to zeolites. In a final step, the viability of the gas-phase synthesis of OME from methanol without separation of intermediates was demonstrated. Introduction 2
2 Introduction
The aim of this chapter is to give background information that is relevant in the context of this work on gas-phase synthesis of oxymethylene ethers, including socio-economic considerations, properties of OME and catalysts, and state of the art of synthetic procedures, production processes and characterisation techniques.
Firstly, the importance of research on synthetic fuels in general and the potential positive contribution to the development of our future transportation sector will be discussed in chapter 2.1. Secondly, oxymethylene ethers as a promising class of synthetic fuels will be introduced in chapter 2.2 with a focus on the development of OME research, physicochemical and fuel- related properties as well as synthetic routes. As the investigations presented in this thesis rely on solid acid catalysis, the two solid acid classes mainly employed in this work, namely zeolites and supported phosphoric acid, will be presented in chapter 2.3 with an emphasis on acid properties. Owing to the broad range of techniques available for acid characterisation, an overview highlighting advantages and limits of the methods is also included. Finally, the partial methanol dehydrogenation is a relevant intermediate reaction for a potential OME synthesis from carbon dioxide (CO2) feedstock. Related reaction characteristics and catalyst classes are summarised in chapter 2.4.
2.1 Synthetic fuels In the research field of synthetic fuel, the academic and industrial interest is mainly driven by socio-economic and health related aspects. These include the potential reduction of anthropogenic CO2 emissions by large scale usage of CO2 as a feedstock for synthetic fuels as discussed in chapter 2.1.1. Furthermore, the facilitated implementation of liquid synthetic fuels as so-called drop-in fuels using existing infrastructure is reviewed in chapter 2.1.2. A third important aspect highlighted in chapter 2.1.3 is the potential of emission reducing synthetic fuels to alleviate health issues related to air pollution.
2.1.1 Chemical CO2 recycling
In current research, many efforts are directed towards mitigation of CO2 emissions and development of CO2 recycling and storage strategies. This interest is sparked by the goal to diminish the effect of global warming. The latter is the amplification of the naturally occurring greenhouse effect by emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) such as carbon dioxide, methane 3 Introduction
(CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and fluorinated compounds from anthropogenic sources. CO2 is rated to have the largest impact on global warming with 76% of total anthropogenic GHG emissions.1
The transformation of CO2 to synthetic fuels can be classified as a CO2 recycle approach.
While CO2 can also be recycled and used for the production of chemicals such as urea, salicylic acid and polycarbonates, its transformation to fuels can have a greater leverage owing 2 to larger fuel demand. Synthetic fuels can contribute to CO2 reduction from the transport sector, which accounted for 23% of global CO2 emissions in 2013. More specifically, fuels have a major impact in the road sector that represented a three quarters share of the transport emissions and was driving its growth.1, 3
As of today, most synthetic fuels are still produced from fossil feedstocks such as mineral oil, natural gas and coal. However, processes for the supply of CO2 as a feedstock by isolation from industrial exhaust gases, biomass or via direct air capture are currently in development.4
Hydrogen is also required for the valorisation of CO2. Similarly, environmentally benign processes for its production are not employed in large scale yet, but water electrolysis is a viable approach. Interestingly, the recent drop in electricity prices from renewables has sparked economical interest in power-to-liquid technologies. For example, a Norwegian company is targeting to produce synthetic “e-diesel” from electrolysis hydrogen and recycled 5 CO2 in industrially relevant quantities from 2020 based on hydro powder.
2.1.2 Drop-in fuels
When discussing CO2 based synthetic fuels in general, methanol (MeOH), dimethyl ether (DME), higher alcohols, hydrocarbons and oxymethylene ethers (OME) are of importance. It is necessary to consider the different requirements towards distribution infrastructure and combustion in engines. While DME is a suitable fuel with regards to many important engine related parameters, its gaseous state of matter at standard conditions requires adaptation of infrastructure and vehicles to liquefied gas handling.6 It is argued that drop-in fuels, which are liquid synthetic fuels that can directly substitute conventional fuels with only minor modifications, will have a lower market introduction barrier. Also in the long run, the development of non-fossil based liquid fuels will be important for applications that cannot easily be equipped with pressurized tanks, batteries or fuel cells, for example aviation and marine transport. Introduction 4
In road transportation, spark-ignition (SI) and compression ignition (CI) engines are commonly used. In terms of efficiency, operating cost and CO2 emission per distance travelled, the diesel fuelled CI engine is clearly favourable.7, 8 For CI engines, hydrocarbons and oxymethylene ethers (OME) are the most prominent examples for synthetic drop-in fuels that can potentially be produced on the basis of CO2 feedstock. Hydrocarbons can be synthesised via the Fischer-Tropsch process. Information of the synthesis of OME will be supplied in chapter 2.2.2. In comparison to Fischer-Tropsch diesel, OME have two interesting additional advantages, namely the low toxicity and the pollutant reducing properties as discussed in the following section.
2.1.3 Reduction of diesel emissions Even though technologies such as battery or fuel cell powered vehicles are emerging, internal combustion engines still dominate road transport worldwide and will certainly continue to represent a large share of vehicles also in the medium-term. It is therefore interesting to analyse the impact of internal combustion engines on the environment and approaches to limit harmful effects.
As mentioned above, compression ignition engines outperform spark-ignition engines in terms 7, 8 of efficiency, operating cost and CO2 emission per distance travelled. However, a major disadvantage is increased exhaust gas pollutant emissions from CI engines. Emitted pollutants include mainly particulate matter (PM, soot) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) as well as lower amounts of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbons (HC). Particle emissions from diesel engines are 6-10 times higher than from gasoline engines.7
The pollutants pose a severe risk to the human health as they can cause heart and lung diseases as well as strokes. According to the World Health Organization, 4.2 million premature deaths per year are a consequence of ambient air pollution.9 Further adverse effects include acid rain, ground-level ozone and reduced visibility.
Legislation dealing with air pollutants has been developing towards lower emission levels in many countries worldwide.10 In this context, approaches to reduce pollutants from road transport have gained in importance.11 Common strategies include engine improvements and exhaust aftertreatment. For exhaust gas treatment of CI engines, diesel oxidation catalyst for removal of CO and HC, particulate filters and catalytic abatement of nitrogen oxides (selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and nitrogen storage and reduction (NSR)) can be applied.7, 12 In 5 Introduction addition to the mentioned routes, potential also lies in reducing the initial formation of pollutants by using emission reducing fuel additives and clean burning synthetic fuels.
Emission reducing diesel additives are mainly hydrocarbon compounds that contain oxygen functionalities and are referred to as oxygenates.8 For SI engines methanol, ethanol and methyl-tertbutyl ether can be used.13 These are however not suitable for CI engines due to fundamentally differing working principles and therefore differing requirements for diesel fuels. For CI engines, oxymethylene ethers (OME) are particularly suitable owing to their pronounced pollutant reducing effect and favourable physicochemical properties.
2.2 Oxymethylene ethers
2.2.1 Physicochemical and fuel related properties of OME
OME are a series of homologous chain ethers with the chemical formula CH3O(CH2O)nCH3 , n denoting the length of the central ether chain in the abbreviation OMEn (see Figure 2.1).
Figure 2.1: Chemical structure of oxymethylene ethers, n denoting the number of repeating units.
With regards to chemical stability, OME are stable in alkaline and neutral medium and are hydrolysed under acidic conditions as other acetal containing compounds. Their physicochemical properties depend on chain length (see Table 2.1). With increasing length, boiling and melting point, density, cetane number, flash point, viscosity, surface tension, and oxygen content increase.6, 14, 15
14, 16 Table 2.1: Selected physicochemical and fuel properties of OME1-5.
OMEn oxygen density at melting boiling flash cetane oligomer content 20 °C point point point number (wt%) (g/cm3) (°C) (°C) (°C)
OME1 42.1 0.868 -105 42 -32 28
OME2 45.2 0.971 -70 105 16 68
OME3 47.0 1.035 -43 156 54 72
OME4 48.1 1.079 -10 202 88 84
OME5 48.9 1.111 18 242 115 93 Introduction 6
OME1, also referred to as dimethoxymethane or methylal, is the shortest homologue and is a well-established solvent used for industrial applications in plastics and perfume industry17, 18 as well as in organic synthesis.19 Its industrial production is commonly based on reactive distillation from methanol and aqueous formaldehyde solution.20-23 With respect to its use as fuels, OME1 and OME2 are more volatile than conventional diesel, but could be used in 15, 24 modified devices. Owing to its low flash point, OME2 has a potential application as a pilot fuel for methanol based spark-ignition engines.25
The physicochemical properties of the intermediate length homologues OME2-5 fulfil fuel requirements fully, such as flash point and cetane number, or partially, for example lubricity, kinematic viscosity and surface tension.14, 26 Due to the increased melting points of OME chains with more than five repeating units, the risk of precipitation in the engine makes those homologues unsuitable for use as fuel. Hence, OME2-5 or OME/diesel blends are regarded as potential drop-in fuels that could be used in conventional motors with only minor adjustments as highlighted in chapter 2.1.2.4
Owing to the oxygen content, the heating value of OME is lower than of diesel fuel (higher 14 heating value of OME3-5: approx. 21 MJ/kg, diesel: approx. 45 MJ/kg). This results in higher gravimetric fuel consumption. The increase in volumetric fuel consumption will however be less pronounced, due to the higher density of OME.
As mentioned in chapter 2.1.3, a major advantage of oxygenates are the pollutant reducing properties. These were identified and patented by Moulton and Naegeli.24, 27 The most pronounced reduction is achieved with regards to soot and particulate matter as has been 24, 28-31 6, 32-40 demonstrated for OME1 as well as OME2-5 by various research groups. It is reasoned that neat OME combusts nearly soot-free due to lack of C-C bonds.41-43 While the absolute values of soot reduction depend on blends, reference fuel, operating points and engine type,28 it is evident that the soot reducing properties are not solely an effect of diesel substitution. For example, for a diesel blend containing 20% OME3-4, a decrease in soot emission of 60% and decrease in particulate mass by 40% in raw emissions of a six-cylinder engine without after-treatment was reported.6 Due to reduced soot formation, engine parameters such as exhaust gas recirculation can be adjusted in a wider range, allowing to 31, 38 decease also harmful NOx emissions. 7 Introduction
An additional general benefit of OME are the high cetane numbers, which can improve engine 14 efficiency. Cetane numbers of OME>1 are significantly higher than the defined lower limit of 51 (see Table 2.1).26 Finally, full miscibility of OME with diesel fuel and its low toxicity are advantageous.18
2.2.2 Development and future challenges of OME research
The description of chain ethers with the chemical formula CH3O(CH2O)nCH3, referred to as oxymethylene ethers (OME) or polyoxymethylene dimethyl ethers (POMDME), reaches back as far as 1904, when Descudé reported the synthesis of OME2 from sodium methylate and dichloro dimethyl ether.44 In the 1920, Staudinger published works on oligomeric and polymeric OME with the aim of understanding the nature of polymeric materials.45 The first patent on synthesis of oligomeric OME was assigned to DuPont in 1948.46 Of commercial relevance was the development of production processes for polymeric homologues of OME. These are named polyoxymethylene (POM) or polyacetals and were commercialized by DuPont in the 1960s.47 POM is a thermoplastic polymer with high mechanical, thermal and chemical resistance and is mainly applied in the automotive and electronics sectors. In the following years, further studies on properties of short chain OMEs were published.48-50 For example, Boyd reported physical properties, such as vapour pressure, density, melting points 51 of the homologues OME1-4 in 1961.
More recently, the main research interest in oligomeric OME is based on the finding that oxygenates have favourable combustion properties as mentioned in chapter 2.1.3.8 In a potential chemical production network based on methanol as a platform chemical as proposed by Olah,52 OME could furthermore be attractive components.
Since 1997, when OME was found to have favourable properties for combustion in CI engines,27 several companies have filed patents for the synthesis of OME as diesel additives, such as BP Amoco Corporation53, 54 and BASF.55, 56 OME are also of particular interest to Chinese companies that have filed numerous patents in the past years. Relying on its large reserves in coal, synthesis gas based chemical industry has strongly developed in China, and an oversupply of methanol has been observed.57, 58 In this context, OME could help to balance changes in supply of diesel fuel. In 2015, the first and currently the only large-scale OME plant was installed by Shandong Yuhuang Chemical Company in China. Introduction 8
In terms of application development, it is interesting to note that the viability of OME for use in conventional cars was demonstrated in 2017. The automotive manufacturing company Continental successfully employed OME blends in test vehicles.59 Moreover, engineers from TU Darmstadt retrofitted a standard car to run on neat OME fuel.60 The major challenge remains the economically feasible production of OME. The predicted price of OME fuel depends strongly on variables, such as choice and price of raw materials and the considered synthesis route.61, 62 With current technology and prices of raw materials, OME are estimated to be 2-4 times more expensive than conventional diesel fuel.5, 60 In the current synthesis process, 60% of the production cost are attributed to raw materials, while energy demands are considered to account for 20% of the final OME price.61 To date, OME are produced with an energy use as high as 10 MJ/kg OME in the Chinese production facility.63, 64 This results from the energy-intensive production and separation of the intermediate trioxane and OME1. It is evident, that process development will be a key factor to realise wide-spread use of OME as diesel additive or fuel. In this context, the in-depth study of the catalytic transformations involved in OME formation is an interesting and relevant field of research.
2.2.3 Synthesis
The general formula CH3O(CH2O)nCH3 shows that OME are built from a chain of formaldehyde-derived repeating units (CH2O)n and methyl end-groups. As pure monomeric formaldehyde is not commercially available as a reagent due to its tendency to polymerise, it needs to be introduced into the reaction via either paraformaldehyde (PF), trioxane (TRI) or in solution. PF represents uncapped formaldehyde polymer chains, while TRI is a trimer of formaldehyde. The monomeric formaldehyde is released via acid-catalysed or thermal decomposition. Aqueous or methanolic formaldehyde solutions contain mainly short-chain poly(oxymethylene) glycols or hemiformals, respectively, which are in equilibrium with monomeric FA and readily react.65 There are also several options for supplying the end-group.
Methanol (MeOH), dimethoxymethane (OME1) and dimethyl ether (DME) are options for capping agents.
An exemplary reaction scheme for the reactant combination methanol and formaldehyde is depicted in Figure 2.2. It includes hemiformal formation, chain-growth and acetal formation steps. The reaction steps are reversible and the presence of water can shift the equilibrium 9 Introduction towards the hemiactals.66 The presence of water in the reaction has been described to reduce reaction rate and OME selectivity in various liquid-phase batch experiments.67-69
Figure 2.2: Schematic representation of OME formation from methanol and formaldehyde.
Analogous to other chain-growth reactions, a product distribution of different homologues is obtained. It follows a Schulz-Flory distribution, which has been developed to describe molecular weight distributions of linear condensation polymers.67, 70-72 In literature, no conclusive indications are available on whether chain-growth in OME formation occurs via oligomeric hemiformals (initiation, growth and termination mechanism) or via insertion of formaldehyde into OMEn (sequential mechanism). It is suggested that the mechanism depends on reactants and reaction conditions. Commonly, the probability of chain growth is observed to be low in acid catalysed synthesis which leads to product distributions mainly comprised of short-chain OME.64
The different reactant combinations can be classified according to the reaction characteristics.64 Reactant combinations of methanol with any formaldehyde source are called aqueous route as water is a stoichiometric side-product in the acetal formation step. In aqueous synthesis mode, poly(oxymethylene) glycols and hemiacetals are potential by- products. Also the combination of OME1 and PF is classified as aqueous, as low amounts of water are released upon depolymerisation of PF. In contrast, no water is formed when OME1 is reacted with TRI. This route is hence called anhydrous route. Current industrial processes are based on the latter route. Also the recently described reaction of DME with TRI is an anhydrous transformation.73
As OMEs synthesis is in general a catalytic transformation, the various proposed synthetic procedures can also be classified according to the catalysts used. Introduction 10
Homogeneous catalysis involving mineral acids55 and acidic ionic liquids74-76 can be applied for the above described reactant combinations. Additionally, recent reports of OME1 77, 78 formation from CO2, H2 and MeOH over organometallic catalysts in solution and of OME 79 formation from OME1 and absorbed gaseous FA catalysed by trimethyloxonium salts can be assigned to this group.
A broad range of synthetic procedures involving heterogeneous catalysis have been reported. As this work is focussed on solid catalysts for OME formation, this class will be described in more detail below. Also methods for direct synthesis of OME1 via either one-step oxidation of MeOH80-90 or via DME oxidation91-94 are based on heterogeneous catalysis. Mainly transition metal oxide containing solid catalysts and materials based on supported heteropoly acids have been reported in this context.
As mentioned above, a wide range of synthetic procedures involving solid acid catalysts has been published in the scientific literature. Table 2.2 gives an overview of the reported reaction parameters, such as reactant combination and ratio, catalyst type and loading, reaction temperature and time. Additionally, the maximum conversion and OME selectivity reported are specified. Table 2.2 is limited to batch-mode reactions, which constitute the majority of reports in the scientific literature. The various solid acid catalysts listed include ion-exchange resins, zeolites, alumosilicates, sulphated metal oxides, graphene oxide as well as supported ionic liquids and stabilized heteropoly acids.
When comparing the catalyst performance data summarized in Table 2.2, it is necessary to consider the following aspects: In case of OME1 as a capping agent, OME1 is commonly regarded solely as a reactant, while in case of the capping agent MeOH, OME1 is one of the products and is hence also considered in the calculation of selectivity. The maximum attainable selectivity of homologues longer than OME1 will therefore differ. It is also not consistently specified whether selectivity is given in mol% or wt% within the reports. Additionally, the selectivity towards different OME homologues is lumped into varying groups. The feasibility of a direct comparison of the reported data is hence limited.
In addition to liquid-phase batch-reactions, flow reactions were mainly described in patent literature. In the context of this work, processes based on methanol and formaldehyde as reactants are of interest. For example, Zhang et al. described a continuous-flow synthesis of 11 Introduction
OME over alumina supported zirconia catalysts and over ion-exchange resins95, 96 and Burger et al. patented a continuous process with Amberlyst 46 ion-exchange resin.97
Table 2.2: Overview of batch-mode OME synthesis procedures based on heterogeneous catalysis. The ratio of capping agent and formaldehyde source is given as mass ratio (wt.) or molar ratio (mol.). Maximum conversion (Xmax) is indicated with respect to FA source if not otherwise indicated. Maximum selectivity (Smax) is lumped for a group of OME homologues as specified in the reference. The reactant combination MeOH/FA corresponds to a methanolic formaldehyde solution.
cap. FA ratio catalyst cat. T t Xmax Smax ref agent source (1):(2) type loading / °C / min / % / % (1) (2) / wt% 98 OME1 TRI 2.5 : 1 ion-exchange 7.5 90 30 89 OME3-8: 64.2 (wt.) resins 99 OME1 TRI 1:1 ion-exchange ca. 10 100 480 - OME2-4 :22.3 (mol.) resins 66 OME1 TRI 2:1 ion-exchange ca. 5 50 > 60 93 OME2-8: 51
(wt.) resins /90 OME3-8: 27 100 OME1 TRI 1:1 sulfonic acid 2 100 60 95.6 OME2-8: 61.8 (mol.) functionalised silica 101 OME1 TRI 2:1 supported ionic 4 105 60 92 OME3-8 : 52 (mol.) liquids 102 OME1 TRI 3:1 zeolites 0.3 25 60 94.5 OME3-5: 21.3 (mol.) 103 OME1 TRI 2 (wt.) zeolites 5 120 45 85.3 OME2-8: 88.5 104 OME1 TRI 3.3:1 zeolites 0.5 70 250 ca. 95 OME3-5: ca. 43 (wt.) 105 OME1 TRI 1:1 zeolites 5 120 1200 92.4 OME2-8: 90.6
(mol.) OME3-8: 60.3 106 OME1 TRI 2.5 : 1 alumosilicates 7.5 105 120 92.6 OME2: 45.1
(wt.) OME3-8: 53.5 107 OME1 TRI 1:1 alumosilicates 2 100 60 92.7 OME2-8: 56 (mol.) 108 OME1 TRI 1:1 sulphated TiO2 1 80 60 89.5 OME3-8: 54.8 (mol.) 58 OME1 PF 3:1 ion-exchange 5 80 120 84.7 OME3-5: 36.6 (wt.) resins 109 OME1 PF 2:1 ion-exchange - 90 360 - OME2-5: 41.2
(wt.) resins OME3-5: 22.1 110 OME1 PF 1.25:1 ion-exchange 5 90 120 77.5 OME3-6: 41.5 (mol.) resins 99 OME1 PF 2:1 ion-exchange ca. 10 100 1440 - OME2-4: 33.0 (mol.) resins + LiBr promotor 111 OME1 PF 3:1 sulphated TiO2 3 80 50 ca. 85 OME3-5: ca. 22 (mol.) Introduction 12
cap. FA ratio catalyst cat. T t Xmax Smax ref agent source (1):(2) type loading / °C / min / % / % (1) (2) / wt% 112 MeOH TRI 2:1 zeolites 5 120 600 100 OME3-8: 29.4 (mol.) - 113 MeOH TRI 2:1 Pd-modified 1 130 95.2 OME2-5: 62.9 (wt.) H-ZSM-5 MeOH 114 MeOH TRI 2:1 PVP-stabilised 2 140 240 95.4 OME2-5: 54.9 (mol.) heteropoly acids 115 MeOH TRI 2:1 graphene oxide 5 120 600 92.8 OME2-8:30.9 (mol.) 105 MeOH TRI 2:1 H-MCM-22 5 120 600 39.8 OME2-8: 65.1
(mol.) zeolite OME3-8 : 39.4 116 MeOH TRI 2:1 sulphated 1.5 130 120 81.9 OME3-8: 23.3 (wt.) Fe2O3-SiO2 a 117 MeOH FA various ion-exchange ca. 5 >100 39 OME1 :14.4 w% a resins OME2: 10.3 wt% a OME3: 6.7 wt% a OME4 :4.0 wt% a 118 MeOH FA 0.67:1 ion-exchange 0.5 80 >180 44 OME1 :14.8 w% a (wt.) resins OME2: 10.4 wt% a OME3: 5.9 wt% a OME4 :4.0 wt% a 68 MeOH FA 0.67 ion-exchange 1 40- > 20 - OME1 :15.8 w% a (wt.) resins and 120 OME2: 9.9 wt% zeolites a OME3: 5.6 wt% a OME4 :3.1 wt% MeOH FA 0.5:1 ion-exchange 10 40-80 180 - - 119 resins DME TRI 4:1 H-BEA zeolite 0.4 80 960 13.9 not indicated 73 (mol.) DME a overall mass fraction at chemical equilibrium
2.3 Solid acid catalysis Solid acids are widely applied in catalytic processes in the petrochemical industry and chemical synthesis. Historically, solid acid catalysts have replaced liquid mineral acids in various processes, owing to advantages, for example, in process engineering, handling, separation and regeneration.120 Generally, solid acids catalysts are characterised by the presence of Brønsted (proton donating) and/or Lewis acidic (electron pair accepting) groups. The acid groups can be located at the surface and/or inside the solid. In case of supported acids, the acid sites are in the active phase that is distributed on the internal and/or external surface of a support. 13 Introduction
In contrast to acids in solution, acid sites are not mobile in the reaction medium and their properties depend on the local environment within the solid structure. Also, interactions of molecules with the acid sites are influenced by factors such as surface adsorption, diffusion to or accessibility of acid sites. It is then not surprising that the experimental methods to measure acid properties of acids in solution and solid acids differ profoundly as described in chapter 2.3. Common examples of solid acids are alumina, amorphous and crystalline alumosilicates (zeolites), functionalised metal oxides, ion-exchange resins, activated carbons, supported mineral acids, and heteropolyacids.120 In this work, mainly zeolites and supported phosphoric acid catalysts have been studied. These classes of catalysts will hence be described in more detail in the following.
2.3.1 Zeolites121, 122 The term “zeolites” traditionally includes naturally occurring or synthetic crystalline alumosilicates with structure-inherent porosity, which consist of a three-dimensional framework of corner-connected tetrahedral primary building units (SiO4 and AlO4). The excess charge related to the Al-containing tetrahedra is compensated by cations.123 A general formula such as