Microwave-enhanced conversion of crude oil to high value chemicals


Materials and nanotechnology

Project Description

Global demand of oil derived products is ever-growing, whereas the supply of conventional oil will inevitably decline in future. Currently, alternative energy sources have not yet been sufficiently developed to the commercial stage, which leads to ongoing considerations that petroleum will remain the dominant global energy supply for several decades to come. There have been very limited reports of microwave energy applied to the upgrading of heavy crude oils, particularly in the production of light olefins. Therefore, this proposal opens a window of opportunities to produce liquid unsaturated compounds (e.g., α-olefins and aromatics) taking into the high selectivity of microwave energy to activate C-H bonds rather than C-C bonds.

The aim of this research project is to develop new petrochemical approaches based on microwave-dielectric heating and rational designed catalsorbers, whose duality can efficiently transform the crude oil and naphtha into high-value chemicals, particularly olefins. These innovations will be used for the selective cracking and dehydrogenation of crude oil into valuable light olefins for the petrochemical industry via new “unconventional process technologies.