Synthesis of ethanol and its catalytic conversion

The declining petroleum resource and deteriorating environmental issues caused by the excessive consumption of primary energy resources have stimulated the exploration of renewable chemicals and fuels. Many countries have set short and/or long term plans to cut the CO2 emission and increase the renewable portions. Ethanol is regarded as a most promising chemical to fulfill these goals. In the past decades, great achievements have been made in ethanol production, and the flourish of ethanol also extends its application to fine chemicals and advanced fuels. In this chapter, the recent advances and developments in ethanol production from biomass and syngas are summarized and compared from the viewpoint of fundamental study to industrial applications. Afterwards, the potential catalytic routes for upgrading ethanol to value-added chemicals (acetaldehyde, ethyl acetate, propylene, acetone, 1,3-butadiene and isobutene) and advanced fuels (H2, butanol and hydrocarbons) are introduced with respect to the catalyst developments and engineering integrations. An outlook is finally provided to highlight the challenges and opportunities associated with this research area.