Research on Ethanol Coupling to Prepare C4 Olefins Based on BP Neural Network and Cluster Analysis

Ethanol, as a clean energy source, is an ideal raw material for the preparation of C4 olefins, but there are few studies on the preparation of C4 olefins by the coupling of ethanol. This research is based on the data from Question B of the 2021 Chinese Contemporary Undergraduate Mathematical Contest in Modeling. The researchers firstly perform data interpolation and visualization processing on the original data. Secondly, based on the two-dimensional visualization analysis, we cluster the different catalyst combinations; divide the influencing factors into temperature, Co/SiO2 and HAP loading ratio, Co loading, and ethanol concentration; and construct a quaternary linear regression equation that affects ethanol conversion rate and C4 olefin selectivity. Finally, according to the three-dimensional spatial visualization analysis and using the BP neural network model training data, we obtain that under the conditions of using loading method I, catalyst combination type 200 mg 0.5 wt% Co/SiO2-200 mg HAP-ethanol concentration 0.9 ml/min and temperature 450°C, the yield of C4 olefins can reach the maximum. This study provides new research ideas and methods for the preparation of C4 olefins from ethanol.