Study on Structure SO42-/ZrO2-Al2 O3-Al Solid Acid for Catalytic Distillation

The catalytic distillation seems to be an energy-saving process with lower investment and operating costs in comparison to the traditional processes. As an alternative to existing catalytic distillation catalysts, containing bales or pockets of catalysts stacked in the distillation column, a novel structural catalystwas proposed. The novel structural solid acid catalyst for the catalytic distillation was prepared by supporting SO42-/ZrO2onto a thin alumina film that had been formed by anodic oxidation of high-purity aluminium foils. The samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, BET, XPS and NH3-TPDmethods. The results showed thatthe thickness of the anodized alumina filmwasmeasured as approximately 56μm by SEM, and the SO42-/ZrO2-Al2O3-Al catalyst had large specific surface area and moderate acid sites. The XRD results showed that ZrO2was utterly dispersed on Al2O3-Al. The catalyst was active for the esterification of acetic acid with ethanol, and could be reused directly for 5 times which meant the catalyst had good stability.