Catalytic production of light Olefins: Perspective and prospective

Light olefins are unsaturated hydrocarbons with at least one carbon–carbon double bond. They include ethene (or ethylene) propene (or propylene), and butene. Ethylene and propylene, sometimes called the king and crown of chemicals, are critical building blocks in the petrochemical industry. Concerns about sustainable development and climate change have prompted chemical manufacturers to start seeking renewable feedstocks. Since oil reserves are finite and in high demand, it is essential to look for an alternative route, especially a renewable one, to produce light olefins. Demand for these light olefins has been continually increasing. These materials serve a myriad of markets, such as the manufacture of polymers, fibres, and numerous organic chemicals. Thus, the range of applications for light olefins continues to expand globally across many industries. Propylene, in particular, is in high demand in the petrochemical industries. Steam cracking of hydrocarbons has been a significant route to produce light olefins for more than 50 years. However, steam cracking technology requires high energy consumption and involves CO2 emissions to the atmosphere, Therefore, much attention has been focused on developing other alternatives which are more energy-efficient and have reduced CO2 emission. This paper is an effort to review the current technologies for light olefin production. It covers both the major current commercial processes and new technologies such as the use of microwaves to produce light olefins. This review will go through the numerous technologies to manufacture light olefins, it is also considered the types of feedstock, most used catalysts, and hypothesized mechanisms for the catalytic reactions. The literature review covers mainly the last 20 years, but we also consider literature published in the last century to give a broad perspective of the evolution of current commercial processes and new developments for producing light olefins.