摘要 |
Alkanes, particularly propane and isobutane, are converted to unsaturated aldehydes, particularly acrolein and methacrolein, in an integrated two-step process wherein the alkane is dehydrogenated in a first step to the corresponding olefin, hydrogen, and by-products and the reaction effluent is passed directly into a second step where the olefin is oxidized to the corresponding unsaturated aldehyde without significant oxidation of the hydrogen and by-products. Some of the by-products of the first stage reactions, or the hydrogen, may be removed from the reaction effluent before it is passed to the second step. The aldehydes and by-products of the oxidation may be separated and the unreacted olefin and alkane recycled to the first step. Alternatively, the effluent from the second step may be used as feed to a further oxidation step for conversion of the unsaturated aldehyde to the corresponding unsaturated acid. |