Process for producing ethylene via oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) of ethane

1. A process for the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane to ethylene, comprising:

contacting an ethane feed and an oxygen-containing gas in the presence of at least one of water and steam and an oxidative dehydrogenation catalyst providing selectivity to ethylene of at least 90 mole % at an ethane conversion per pass of at least 67% at a reaction temperature of 370° C. or less in an oxidative dehydrogenation reaction zone under conditions to oxidatively dehydrogenate at least a portion of the ethane to produce a product stream comprising ethylene, carbon oxides, water, and unreacted oxygen and ethane, wherein an oxygen concentration in the product stream is at least 0.1 mol %, the oxidative dehydrogenation catalyst comprising Mo a V b Nb c Y d Te e O n wherein Y=Sb or Ni; a=1.0; b=0.05 to 1.0; c=0.001 to 1.0; d=0.001 to 1.0; e=0.001 to 0.5; and n is determined by the oxidation states of the other elements;

contacting the product stream with an oxygen elimination catalyst in an oxygen elimination reaction zone to combust at least a portion of the oxygen;

recovering from the oxygen elimination reaction zone an effluent having a reduced oxygen content;

separating water from the effluent;

separating carbon oxides and any non-condensable gas(es) from the ethylene and the unreacted ethane; and

separating the ethylene from the unreacted ethane.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the oxygen elimination catalyst comprises at least one of a combustion catalyst, an oxidation catalyst, and a hydrogenation catalyst.

3. The process of claim 1 , further comprising feeding a combustible component to the oxygen elimination reaction zone.

4. The process of claim 3 , wherein the added combustible compound comprises at least one of a hydrocarbon and hydrogen.

5. The process of claim 3 , wherein the oxygen elimination reaction zone and the oxidative dehydrogenation reaction zone are contained in a single vessel.

6. The process of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the ethane feed is obtained from a natural gas stream or a stream recovered from a steam cracker effluent.

7. The process of claim 1 , wherein the oxygen-containing gas comprises oxygen with a purity of at least 90 mol %.

8. The process of claim 1 , wherein the oxygen-containing gas comprises a mixture of oxygen and at least one inert gas.

9. The process of claim 1 , further comprising recycling at least one of

a) a portion of the separated water; and

b) a portion of the separated ethane; to the oxidative dehydrogenation reaction zone.

10. The process of claim 1 , wherein the oxidative dehydrogenation catalyst further comprises at least one catalyst selected from the group consisting of:

a) Mo a V b Nb c Te e O n

wherein for catalyst a), a=1.0; b=0.05 to 1.0, c=0.001 to 1.0, e=0.001 to 0.5, and n is determined by the oxidation states of the other elements; and

b) Mo a V b NX c Y d Z e M f O n ,

wherein for catalyst b), X=at least one of Nb and Ta; Y=at least one of Sb and Ni; Z=at least one of the Te, Ga, Pd, W, Bi and Al; M=at least one of Fe, Co, Cu, Cr, Ti, Ce, Zr, Mn, Pb, Mg, Sn, Pt, Si, La, K, Ag and In; a=1.0; b=0.05 to 1.0; c=0.001 to 1.0; d=0.001 to 1.0; e=0.001 to 0.5; and f=0.001 to 0.3; and n is determined by the oxidation states of the other elements.

11. The process of claim 1 , wherein the selectivity to ethylene is at least 92 mole % at an ethane conversion per pass of at least 67%.

12. A process for the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane to ethylene, comprising:

contacting ethane and an oxygen-containing gas in the presence of at least one of water and steam and a multi metal-oxide catalyst in an oxidative dehydrogenation reactor under conditions to oxidatively dehydrogenate at least a portion of the ethane to produce a product stream comprising ethylene, carbon oxides, water, and unreacted ethane;

separating water from the product stream to recover a water fraction and a fraction comprising carbon oxides, ethylene and unreacted ethane;

separating the fraction comprising carbon oxides, ethylene and unreacted ethane to recover carbon oxides and any non-condensable gas(es) and a hydrocarbon fraction comprising ethylene and unreacted ethane;

separating carbon oxides and non-condensable gas(es) from the ethylene and the unreacted ethane; and

separating the ethylene from the unreacted ethane;

wherein the selectivity to ethylene is at least 90 mole % at an ethane conversion per pass of at least 67% at a reaction temperature of 370° C. or less, and

wherein the multi-metal-oxide catalyst comprises Mo a V b Nb c Y d Te e O n , wherein Y=Sb or Ni; a=1.0; b=0.05 to 1.0; c=0.001 to 1.0; d=0.001 to 1.0; e=0.001 to 0.5; and n is determined by the oxidation states of the other elements.

13. The process of claim 12 , wherein the selectivity to ethylene is at least 92 mole % at an ethane conversion per pass of at least 67%.

14. The process of claim 12 , further comprising:

contacting the product stream with an oxygen elimination catalyst in an oxygen elimination reaction zone to combust at least a portion of the oxygen;

recovering from the oxygen elimination reaction zone an effluent having a reduced oxygen content; and

feeding the effluent having a reduced oxygen content as the product stream fed to the separating water.

15. The process of claim 14 , further comprising feeding a combustible component to the oxygen elimination reaction zone.