On‐purpose production of light olefins through oxidative dehydrogenation: An overview of recent developments

Products made from light olefins play an important role in our daily lives. Traditional light olefins production based on stream crackers and fluid catalytic cracking suffer from high energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Thereby, the continually increasing demand of light olefins needs to be met through more environmentally sustainable procedures. On‐purpose production routes are a preferred choice among petrochemicals manufacturers, being energy efficient and having lower carbon footprint. Among them, oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) of light olefins is a thermodynamically favourable exothermic process as compared to non‐oxidative routes. They can be operated at lower temperatures and has low coke deposition on catalyst, thereby resisting rapid catalyst deactivation. Herein, we have analysed various catalytic systems utilised in the oxidative dehydrogenation process. We have reviewed role of support, chemical composition of catalyst, presence of dopant, oxidation state of active metal, controlled surface modification by oxidative and reductive pretreatments, and reaction factors for each system. The performance of various catalytic systems for ODH of ethane, propane and butane in the presence of O2, CO2, N2O and special oxidants have been reviewed. A short critical overview on emerging on‐purpose routes for the production of renewable 1,3 butadiene has also been discussed.