Hydrogenation of Dimethyl Oxalate Using Extruded Cu/SiO2 Catalysts: Mechanical Strength and Catalytic Performance

In this work, the extrusion process of Cu/SiO2 catalysts prepared by the ammonia-evaporation (AE) method has been investigated and optimized in order to obtain materials with convenient catalytic and mechanical properties for their application in the gas-phase hydrogenation reaction of dimethyl oxalate (DMO) to ethylene glycol (EG). Thereby, a variety of Cu/SiO2 extrudates were prepared with different Cu loading. It has been observed that a special microstructure including defects, flaws, and discontinuities plays a significant role on the mechanical strength. Larger CuO grains may act as fracture origins, which negatively affect the mechanical strength. The 20Cu/SiO2 extrudate with high Cu dispersion and high porosity is optimized for hydrogenation of DMO to EG, achieving a 98% conversion of DMO and 85% selectivity of EG under the liquid hourly space velocity (LHSV) of 1.0 h–1.