Editors: | F. Kongoli, M. Haumann, P. Wasserscheid, T. Welton, M. Gaune-Escard, A. Angell, A. Riisager |
Publisher: | Flogen Star OUTREACH |
Publication Year: | 2018 |
Pages: | 154 pages |
ISBN: | 978-1-987820-86-7 |
ISSN: | 2291-1227 (Metals and Materials Processing in a Clean Environment Series) |
This presentation highlights two recent developments of our group using ionic liquids as bulk liquid phase in industrially relevant, new process concepts. The first part of the presentation is dedicated to the role of an IL sorbent during the catalytic hydrogenation of CO<sub>2</sub> to methanol. This reaction is limited under stoichiometric conditions to around 20 % methanol yield by the equilibrium (75 bar total pressure, 250 °C). However, in the presence of an IL that absorbs both methanol and water under reaction conditions, significantly higher overall MeOH yields can be realized. This new application of IL sorbents has been demonstrated on a 5 L reactor scale with a continuous methanol production rate of more than 50 g per hour.
The second part of the presentation deals with a novel liquid-phase technology to convert lactic acid from fermentation to bio-acrylic acid. Acrylic acid is a major industrial chemical that is so far exclusively produced by a two-step oxidation process from propene. Selective conversion from biomass via lactic acid promises a strong reduction of the CO2 footprint, but also higher productivity under much milder conditions. The new process applies a bromide ionic liquid reaction medium to realize a nucleophile assisted dehydration process in hitherto unreached selectivity and yield.[2, 3]