ORNL researchers develop new catalyst to covert ethanol into C3+ olefins

In Tennessee, Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers have developed a new catalyst for converting ethanol into C3+ olefins—the chemical building blocks for renewable jet fuel and diesel—that pushes the amount produced to a record-high 88%, a more than 10% gain over their previously developed catalyst. 

In the search for new catalysts, researchers achieved the record yield by exploring a new reaction pathway using a metal mix of copper, zinc and yttrium. The experiments add to fundamental understanding of how various metals behave in complex chemical reactions while also indicating potential for developing new catalysts and reducing carbon deposits that decrease yield in the catalysis process.

The new research builds on previous work with a conversion process now licensed to Prometheus Fuels and more recent research using a zinc-yttrium beta catalyst combined with a single-atom alloy catalyst.