Other

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Yuying Shu

Tao Zhang

Mingyuan Zheng

Xiaodong Wang

Na Ji

Jingguang Chen

Hui Xing Wang

Aiqin Wang

Aigin Wang

Hui Wang

Tungsten carbide catalysts are used in preparation of ethylene glycol by hydrogenating degradation of cellulose. The catalyst includes tungsten carbide as main catalytic active component, added with small amount of one or more transition metals such as nickel, cobalt, iron, ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium, platinum, and copper as the second metal, supported on one or more porous complex supports such as active carbon, alumina, silica, titanium dioxide, silicon carbide, zirconium oxide, for conversion of cellulose to ethylene glycol. The catalyst realizes high efficiency, high selectivity, and high yield in the conversion of cellulose to ethylene glycol at the temperature of 120-300&#xb0; C., hydrogen pressure of 1-10 MPa, and hydrothermal conditions. Compared to the existing industrial synthetic method of ethylene glycol using ethylene as feedstock, the invention has the advantages of using renewable raw material resources, environment friendly process, and excellent atom economy.

Methods of using tungsten carbide catalysts in preparation of ethylene glycol

A method for preparing ethylene glycol from cellulose uses the cellulose as the feed for the reaction. The cellulose conversion is performed over catalysts which are composed of the metallic state, carbides, nitrides, or phosiphides of molybdenum or tungsten, and metallic cobalt, nickel, ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, iridium, and platinum of the group 8, 9, or 10 transition metals. The catalytic conversion of cellulose is conducted at 120 to 300&#xb0; C. and hydrogen pressure 1 to 12 MPa under the hydrothermal conditions to achieve the high efficiency, high selectivity, and high yield of ethylene glycol. Compared to the existing method of preparing ethylene glycol from ethylene, the method, using the renewable raw material for the reaction, is friendly to the environment, and has high atom economy.

Method of preparing ethylene glycol from cellulose

Growing community of inventors

Dalian, China

Yuying Shu