Methanol to Olefins (MTO): From Fundamentals to Commercialization

The methanol-to-olefins (MTO) reaction is an interesting and important reaction for both fundamental research and industrial application. The Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) has developed a MTO technology that led to the successful construction and operation of the world's first coal to olefin plant in 2010. This historical perspective gives a brief summary on the key issues for the process development, including studies on the reaction mechanism, molecular sieve synthesis and crystallization mechanism, catalyst and its manufacturing scale up, reactor selection and reactor scale up, process demonstration, and commercialization. Further challenges on the fundamental research and the directions for future catalyst improvement are also suggested.