On December 5, 2019 the project “High-efficiency catalyst and technology for coupling and conversion of ethane-CO2” jointly developed by the CAS Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) and the Guangzhou New Century New Energy Development Limited Liability Company has passed the appraisal of technical achievement organized by the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association.Experts attending the appraisal meeting have unanomously admitted that this technical achievement featuring independent intellectual property reights can promote the resource reclamation and high-value utilization of ethane and CO2to achieve good economic bene fits.

The research personnel of this project have predominantly developed the iron-based catalyst and the process technology for coupling and conversion of C2H6-CO2mixture to manufacture high add-value chemicals―ethylene/CO/H2.The tests conducted in a unit rated at 1.0 kt/a have revealed that this catalyst has good activity, selectivity, and stability,while the design of reactor, heating furnace, and process route is reasonable. A method for controlling the distribution of products resulted from coupling and conversion of C2H6-CO2has been developed to achieve the flexible control of the C2H4/CO/H2ratio. The product separation technology, featuring low energy consumption and short process flowsheet coupled with a flexible product separation scheme, has been developed to meet the demand of downstream units for diversi fied raw feedstocks. In the course of project development, 7 invention patents and 4 patents for utility models have been authorized.