DEVELOPMENT OF NICKEL BASED CATALYST FOR 2-ETHYLHEXANOL PRODUCTION FROM HYDROGENATION OF 2-ETHYL-2-HEXENAL

• Main Author: Adinda Inka P, Bernadeta
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/48293
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Alcohol compound, 2-ethylhexanol (2-EH), is widely used as raw material for producing plasticizers, additives in soaps, coatings, surfactants, and so on. One of the reactions in the 2-EH synthesis process is the catalytic hydrogenation of 2-ethyl-2-hexenal (or Ethyl Propyl Acrolein/EPA) into 2-EH. Currently, PT. Petro Oxo Nusantara is the only 2-EH producer in Indonesia. However, the hydrogenation catalyst used is still imported. Therefore, this research was conducted to obtain the recipe for EPA hydrogenation catalyst to 2-EH with the same or higher quality than those of commercial catalyst. Thus, Indonesia can independently meet the needs of the catalyst without relying on imports. In this research, Ni metal is used as the main active phase of the catalyst and AlOOH-SiO2 is used as support with a mass ratio of AlOOH:SiO2 of 2:1. The catalyst is synthesized through three main stages, which are precipitation of Ni(OH)2 to produce NiO, sol-gel process to synthesize supported NiO, and impregnation process to add promoters. This research is carried out by varying the precipitating agent between NaOH and NH4OH, varying mass ratio of NiO:support between 50:48 and 48:50, as well as varying the promoter using Cu (0.5-6%-w) and K (0.5-1%-w) metals. The synthesized catalyst was then tested using a fixed bed reactor under the operating conditions of 120oC, 30 bar, and LHSV of 2,2 h-1 for 8 hours, with sampling done every 1 hour. Samples were analyzed using Gas Chromatography (GC) with an FID detector and RTX-5 column. The crystallinity of the catalysts from the variation of precipitating agents were also analyzed using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). Based on the study, the use of NH4OH as a precipitating agent resulted in better catalyst performance than those of NaOH. The NiO:support mass ratio of 50:48 provides better performance so that the support reduction as the increase of promoter is carried out on the synthesis of other catalysts. Meanwhile, 0.5%-w K promoted catalysts provide better results and stability than commercial catalysts with the average EPA conversion of 94% and average 2-EH selectivity of 96%.