A series of Cu–Ru/MgO catalysts were developed for the continuous production of propylene glycol from glycerol in a sectionally packed downflow tubular reactor in the vapor phase. Glycerol conversion and the formation of propylene glycol (1,2-propanediol) were continuously monitored at the outlet of the reactor operated under different reaction conditions. At atmospheric pressure, hydroxyacetone (acetol) was obtained as a major reaction product and at higher pressure (≥0.8 MPa), propylene glycol was found to be the main product. Among all the other catalysts, the 6Cu–4Ru/MgO catalyst demonstrated almost complete glycerol conversion (∼98%) with very high propylene glycol selectivity (∼75%) at a much lower H₂/glycerol mole ratio (66.8) and reaction pressure (0.8 MPa). The superior activity of the 6Cu–4Ru/MgO catalyst was due to the copper–ruthenium synergy, highly dispersed (3.6%) Ru metal on the catalyst surface, higher BET surface area (258.6 m² g_cat.⁻¹), and small average particle size (∼3 nm) of the catalyst. It was also perceived that ruthenium acted as a hydrogen storage material and this metal propagated hydrogen spillover to the copper metal, which significantly improved propylene glycol selectivity.

中文翻译：

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在双功能Cu-Ru / MgO催化剂上通过甘油的氢解连续生产丙二醇（1,2-丙二醇）

开发了一系列Cu-Ru / MgO催化剂，用于在分段填充的下行管式反应器中以甘油的形式从甘油连续生产丙二醇。在不同反应条件下操作的反应器出口处，连续监测甘油的转化和丙二醇（1,2-丙二醇）的形成。在大气压下，以羟基丙酮（丙酮醇）为主要反应产物，在高压下（≥0.8MPa），以丙二醇为主要产物。在所有其他催化剂中，6Cu–4Ru / MgO催化剂在低得多的H ₂下表现出几乎完全的甘油转化（〜98％）和非常高的丙二醇选择性（〜75％）。/甘油摩尔比（66.8）和反应压力（0.8 MPa）。所述6Cu-4RU /氧化镁催化剂的优良的活性是由于铜-钌的协同作用，高度分散的（3.6％）的Ru催化剂表面上的金属，更高的BET表面积（258.6米²克_猫。^-1），和小催化剂的平均粒径（约3 nm）。还认为钌充当储氢材料，并且该金属将氢扩散到铜金属上，这显着提高了丙二醇的选择性。