Development of a catalyst for conversion of syngas-derived materials to isobutylene. Quarterly report No. 7, October 1, 1992--December 31, 1992

The main goal of this contract is to develop a catalyst and technology that will produce iC{sub 4}= directly from coal-derived syngas and that is capable of utilizing a lower (0.5 to 1.0) H{sub 2}:CO ratio. The research will identify and optimize the key catalyst and process characteristics that give improved performance for CO conversion by a non-Fischer-Tropsch process. This report, which is the seventh quarterly report covers the testing of various ZrO{sub 2}-based catalyst systems designed to examine the effects of catalyst preparation and process variables, especially low calcination temperature and mild reaction conditions (low temperatures, low pressure and low space velocity). Testing of solvent-extracted sol-gel ZrO{sub 2} catalysts indicate a decrease in isobutene yield. Lowering the reaction temperature, pressure and space velocity resulted in a small improvement in isobutene yield. Three extended runs demonstrated reasonable catalyst stability. In view of the generally poor isobutene yields, the emphasis in this project will shift to isoalcohol production