# US 11,306,049 B2 · Process using catalytic composition for the conversion of syngas to higher alcohols > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,306,049 B2 - Document ID: US11306049B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/424,352 - Filed: 2020-01-28 - Published: 2022-03-24 - Granted: 2022-04-19 - Earliest claimed: 2019-02-01 - Assignees: Total SA; ETH Zurich - Applicants: Total SE; Eth Zurich - Inventors: Daniel Curulla-Ferre; Joseph Stewart; Javier Perez-Ramirez; Cecilia Mondelli; Ho Ting Luk - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11306049B2 ## CPC - C07C 29/156: containing iron group metals, platinum group metals or compounds thereof - B01J 21/14: Silica and magnesia - B01J 21/185: {Carbon nanotubes (carbon nanotubes per se C01B32/15)} - B01J 23/70: of the iron group metals or copper - B01J 23/74: Iron group metals - B01J 23/745: Iron - C07C 29/151: with hydrogen or hydrogen-containing gases - C07C 29/153: characterised by the catalyst used - C07C 29/154: containing copper, silver, gold, or compounds thereof - C07C: ACYCLIC OR CARBOCYCLIC COMPOUNDS - B01J: CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS ## Abstract The present disclosure relates to a process for converting syngas to C2+ alcohols, said process comprising the steps of providing a reactor, of providing a catalyst composition and one or more acidic materials within said reactor, of providing a feed stream comprising a mixture of H2 and CO; and of contacting said feed stream with said catalyst composition and said one or more acidic materials under reaction conditions to provide product stream. Said process is remarkable in that said catalyst composition comprises an active phase comprising CuFe deposited on a carbon-containing support, and the one or more acidic materials are one or more zeolites having a Si/Al molar ratio ranging between 2 and 200. ## Claims ### Claim 1 Process for converting syngas to C2+ alcohols said process comprising the following steps: a) providing an installation comprising at least one reactor having one or more catalytic beds; b) providing a catalyst composition and one or more acidic materials within said at least one reactor; c) providing a feed stream comprising a mixture of H2 and CO; d) contacting said feed stream with said catalyst composition and said one or more acidic materials under reaction conditions to provide product stream; characterized in that said catalyst composition comprises an active phase comprising CuFe deposited on a carbon-containing support, the total content of iron and copper ranging from 1 to 10 wt. % based on the total weight of the catalyst composition and as determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy, and the one or more acidic materials being one or more zeolites having a Si/Al molar ratio ranging between 2 and 200 as determined by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The process according to claim 1, wherein said at least one reactor comprises a first reactive bed and one or more subsequent reactive beds, one or more subsequent reactive beds being arranged downstream of the first reactive bed, the process is characterized in that the catalyst composition and the one or more acidic materials are provided in different reactive beds, and in that the catalyst composition is provided in the first reactive bed and the one or more acidic materials are provided in the one or more subsequent reactive beds. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The process according to claim 1, wherein said at least one reactor comprises a first reactive bed and one or more optional subsequent reactive beds, wherein the one or more subsequent reactive beds, when present, are arranged downstream of the first reactive bed, the process is characterized in that during step (b) a mixture of the catalyst composition and of the one or more acidic materials is provided in the first reactive bed. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The process according to claim 1, characterized in that the carbon-containing support of the catalyst composition is selected from carbon nanofibers and/or carbon nanotubes. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The process according to claim 4, characterized in that said carbon-containing support has a hollow-core structure with an inner diameter of at least 17 nm as determined according to N2 sorption analysis; and/or, in that the carbon-containing support is or comprises carbon nanofibers selected from platelet-type carbon nanofibers and conical platelet-type carbon nanofibers. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The process according to claim 1, characterized in that the catalyst composition further comprises at least one promoter. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The process according to claim 1, characterized in that the catalyst composition has a Cu/Fe bulk molar ratio is ranging from 0.5/1 to 5/1; and/or in that the catalyst composition is reduced over hydrogen gas before step (c). ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The process according to claim 1, characterized in that the Cu particle size in the catalyst composition is at least 7 nm as determined from the (111) reflection in an XRD pattern using the Scherrer equation; or the Cu particle size in the catalyst composition is at most 35 nm as determined from the (111) reflection in a XRD pattern using the Scherrer equation. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The process according to claim 1, characterized in that the one or more acidic materials are one or more zeolites are selected from MFI, FAU, MOR, FER, BEA, TON, MTT, or OFF families. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The process according to claim 1, characterized in that the one or more acidic materials are one or more zeolites partially ion-exchanged with an alkali metal-based ion. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The process according to claim 1, characterized in that the one or more acidic materials are one or more zeolites having a surface area comprised between 10 m2 g−1 and 1000 m2 g−1, as determined by the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method; and/or in that the one or more acidic materials are one or more zeolites having a pore volume comprised between 0.15 cm3 g−1 and 1.25 cm3 g−1, as determined by N2 sorption analysis. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The process according to claim 1, characterized in that the one or more acidic materials are one or more zeolites having a density of Brønsted-acid sites ranging from 5 μmol g−1 to 700 μmol g−1 as determined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy of adsorbed pyridine; and/or in that the one or more acidic materials are one or more zeolites having a density of Lewis-acid sites ranging from 4 μmol g−1 to 250 μmol g−1 as determined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy of adsorbed pyridine. ### Claim 13 (depends on 2) The process according to claim 2, wherein said at least one reactor comprises a first reactive bed, the process is characterized in that the reaction conditions in the first reactive bed comprise: a reaction temperature ranging from 443 K (169.85° C.) to 653 K (379.85° C.), and/or a reaction pressure range ranging from 1 MPa to 10 MPa, and/or a weight hourly space velocity ranging from 500 cm3 gcat−1 h−1 to 48,000 cm3 gcat−1 h−1. ### Claim 14 (depends on 2) The process according to claim 2, wherein said at least one reactor comprises one or more subsequent reactive beds being arranged downstream of the first reactive bed, the process is characterized in that the reaction conditions in the one or more subsequent reactive beds comprise one or more of: a reaction temperature ranging from 373 K (99.85° C.) to 773 K (499.85° C.), and/or a reaction pressure range ranging from 0.1 MPa to 10.0 MPa; and/or a weight hourly space velocity ranging from 500 cm3 gcat−1 h−1 to 50,000 cm3 gcat−1 h−1.