530
uncertainty in the feedstock scenario, since most of the recent steam crackers are C 2 /
C 3 gas/shale gas based. Hence, production of BD from readily available low-cost
bioethanol and other biomass-derived chemical intermediates has been gaining
ground. Accordingly, scientific investigations on catalysts and processes for ethanol
to butadiene (ETB) process are on the rise (Fig. 20). A complete life cycle analysis
of GHG effect on ETB process vs. naphtha-based one has shown 155% reduction in
emissions in the bio-based process [200], thus making it highly relevant in the current context of environmental sustainability of chemical processes.
Historically, two ETB processes have been described. The first one is a singlestep process, on ZnO-Al 2 O 3 catalyst, at 400 °C, discovered by Sergey Lebedev in
1929 [201–203] according to the reaction:
Fig. 20 Number of publications dedicated to ethanol to butadiene in the recent years (Reproduced
from Pomalaza et al. [199])
Fig. 19 Global demand/production of 1,3-butadiene [198]
R. Vinayagamoorthi et al.
uncertainty in the feedstock scenario, since most of the recent steam crackers are C 2 /
C 3 gas/shale gas based. Hence, production of BD from readily available low-cost
bioethanol and other biomass-derived chemical intermediates has been gaining
ground. Accordingly, scientific investigations on catalysts and processes for ethanol
to butadiene (ETB) process are on the rise (Fig. 20). A complete life cycle analysis
of GHG effect on ETB process vs. naphtha-based one has shown 155% reduction in
emissions in the bio-based process [200], thus making it highly relevant in the current context of environmental sustainability of chemical processes.
Historically, two ETB processes have been described. The first one is a singlestep process, on ZnO-Al 2 O 3 catalyst, at 400 °C, discovered by Sergey Lebedev in
1929 [201–203] according to the reaction:
Fig. 20 Number of publications dedicated to ethanol to butadiene in the recent years (Reproduced
from Pomalaza et al. [199])
Fig. 19 Global demand/production of 1,3-butadiene [198]
R. Vinayagamoorthi et al.