Efficient conversion of ethanol to acetaldehyde with induction heating at low temperature

The application of induction heating (IH) to provide heat for chemical reactions has received great attention due to its potential to electrify chemical reactions. Biomass-based production of acetaldehyde from ethanol has gained rising interest since it provides an alternative sustainable method instead of the fossil-fuel-based output using acetylene and formaldehyde in the presence of a catalyst. The dehydrogenation of ethanol can be catalyzed by supported copper catalysts. The reaction is typically carried out at high temperatures, around 250-300 degrees C, without oxygen. The resulting product mixture usually contains acetaldehyde, as well as other byproducts such as ethylene and hydrogen gas. The acetaldehyde can be separated from the other components using distillation or other separation techniques. In this work, we studied the catalyst activity with IH for the first time and achieved high ethanol conversion and acetaldehyde selectivity at a temperature of 30 & ring;C lower than that with conventional furnace heating (CFH). A transport model was applied to design the catalyst bed configuration and improve the catalyst activity, stability, and energy efficiency by minimizing the temperature gradient. Our work suggests that the temperature distribution and the fast compensation of heat loss through IH are critical for the catalyst behavior. Both high production efficiency and energy efficiency can be achieved with IH, such that it can be an efficient and environment-friendly heating method for the chemical industry.