Catalyst for dehydrogenation of hydrocarbons

1. A catalyst for use in dehydrogenation processes comprising:

a carrier; chromium oxide, at a concentration from about 10 wt % to about 30 wt % chromium oxide, based on the total catalyst weight, including the chromium oxide; sodium oxide, as a promoter, at a concentration from about 0.1 wt % to about 2 wt % sodium oxide based on the total catalyst weight, including the sodium oxide, and potassium oxide, as a promoter, at a concentration from about 0.1 wt % to about 5 wt % potassium oxide, based on the total catalyst weight, including the potassium oxide.

2. The catalyst of claim 1 wherein the carrier is selected from a group consisting of aluminum oxide, alumina, alumina monohydrate, aluminum trihydroxide, transition alumina, gamma-alumina, theta-alumina, eta-alumina, alumina-silica, silica, silicates, zeolites, bayerite, gibbsite, nordstrandite and combinations thereof.

3. The catalyst of claim 1 wherein the carrier has a particle size of from about 20 μm to about 150 μm.

4. The catalyst of claim 1 wherein the chromium oxide is present at a concentration from about 15 wt % to about 28 wt %, based on the total catalyst weight, including the chromium oxide.

5. The catalyst of claim 1 wherein the chromium oxide is added in the form of a CrO 3 solution that is impregnated onto the alumina carrier.

6. The catalyst of claim 1 wherein the potassium and sodium oxide promoters are co-impregnated on the carrier with the chromium.

7. The catalyst of claim 1 wherein the sodium oxide is present at a concentration of from about 0.1 wt % to about 1 wt % sodium oxide, based on the total catalyst weight, including the sodium oxide.

8. The catalyst of claim 1 wherein the sodium oxide is present at a concentration of about 0.1 wt % to about 0.3 wt % sodium oxide, based on the total catalyst weight, including the sodium oxide.

9. The catalyst of claim 1 wherein the potassium oxide promoter is present at a concentration of from about 0.1 wt % to about 2 wt % potassium oxide, based on the total catalyst weight, including the potassium oxide.

10. The catalyst of claim 1 wherein the ratio of potassium oxide to sodium oxide is from about 0.1:1 to about 10:1 on a weight basis.

11. The catalyst of claim 1 wherein the ratio of potassium oxide to sodium oxide is from about 0.1:1 to about 3:1 on a weight basis.

12. The catalyst of claim 1 further comprising at least one additional promoter selected from the group consisting of zirconium and magnesium compounds and mixtures thereof.

13. A catalyst for use in dehydrogenation processes comprising:

a carrier; chromium oxide, at a concentration from about 10 wt % to about 30 wt % chromium oxide, based on the total catalyst weight, including the chromium oxide; sodium oxide, as a promoter, at a concentration from about 0.1 wt % to about 2 wt % sodium oxide based on the total catalyst weight, including the sodium oxide; potassium oxide, as a promoter, at a concentration from about 0.1 wt % to about 5 wt % potassium oxide, based on the total catalyst weight, including the potassium oxide; and from about 0.1 to about 15 wt % of zirconium oxide, based on the total catalyst weight.

14. A catalyst for use in dehydrogenation processes comprising:

a carrier; chromium oxide, at a concentration from about 10 wt % to about 30 wt % chromium oxide, based on the total catalyst weight, including the chromium oxide; sodium oxide, as a promoter, at a concentration from about 0.1 wt % to about 2 wt % sodium oxide based on the total catalyst weight, including the sodium oxide; potassium oxide, as a promoter, at a concentration from about 0.1 wt % to about 5 wt % potassium oxide, based on the total catalyst weight, including the potassium oxide; and from about 0.1 to about 15 wt % of zirconium oxide, based on the total catalyst weight, and from about 0.1 to about 15 wt % of magnesium oxide, based on the total catalyst weight.

15. A catalyst for use in dehydrogenation processes comprising:

a carrier; chromium oxide, at a concentration from about 10 wt % to about 30 wt % chromium oxide, based on the total catalyst weight, including the chromium oxide; and alkali metal oxides consisting essentially of sodium oxide and potassium oxide as promoters, wherein the sodium oxide concentration is from about 0.1 wt % to about 2 wt %, based on the total catalyst weight and the potassium oxide concentration is from about 0.1 wt % to about 5 wt % based on the total catalyst weight.

16. A catalyst for use in dehydrogenation processes comprising:

a carrier; chromium oxide, at a concentration from about 10 wt % to about 30 wt % chromium oxide, based on the total catalyst weight, including the chromium oxide; alkali metal oxides consisting essentially of sodium oxide and potassium oxide as promoters, wherein the sodium oxide concentration is from about 0.1 wt % to about 2 wt %, based on the total catalyst weight, and the potassium oxide concentration is from about 0.1 wt % to about 5 wt % based on the total catalyst weight and zirconium oxide, as a promoter, at a concentration from about 0.1 to 15 wt % zirconium oxide, based on the total catalyst weight, including the zirconium oxide.

17. A process for making a dehydrogenation catalyst comprising

mixing and shaping an alumina compound to form a shaped carrier,

combining the shaped carrier with compounds comprising a chromium compound and alkali metal compounds, consisting essentially of a sodium compound and a potassium compound, to form a precursor material, and

heating the precursor material to form the dehydrogenation catalyst.

18. A process for making a dehydrogenation catalyst comprising

mixing alumina with compounds comprising chromium compounds and alkali metal compounds, consisting essentially of sodium and potassium compounds, to form a precursor material, and

heat treating the precursor material to form the dehydrogenation catalyst.