Oxidative catalytic cracking of n-butane to lower alkenes over layered BiOCl catalyst Original Research Article

Catalytic performance of BiOCl catalyst has been investigated for the oxidative cracking of n-butane to lower alkenes. Results are compared with those of isostructural LaOCl and SmOCl catalysts. On the BiOCl catalyst, oxidative dehydrogenation and combustion were major reactions at ∼500°C; above ∼600°C oxidative cracking reaction to produce ethylene and propylene began to be significant. At the temperature as low as 625°C, 52% yield of overall C2–C4 alkenes was achieved, and then decreased above this temperature. The conversions of n-butane and oxygen were maintained constants within 6 h periods at the reaction temperatures of 550 and 600°C. However, both conversions decreased slightly with time-on-stream at 650°C. BiOCl catalyst shows rather high alkenes’ selectivity and suppresses deep oxidation reactions for the oxidative cracking of n-butane, as compared to the LaOCl and SmOCl catalysts. The overall yield of C2–C4 alkenes for the BiOCl catalyst is higher than the values for the LaOCl and SmOCl catalysts over the temperature range of 500–600°C.