Prediction of reaction performance of pentafluoropropene hydrogenation for environmentally friendly refrigerant production

In this study, hydrogenation of 1,2,3,3,3-pentafluoropropene was performed to produce R-1234yf as an environmentally friendly refrigerant. Palladium based carbon was prepared as a catalyst in the hydrogenation reaction. The effect of reaction conditions including the weight hourly space velocity (WHSV), reaction temperature and ratio of hydrogen and reactants on the catalytic performance was investigated. Under the identical reaction conditions, the effect of WHSV on the main product selectivity was insignificant, but a high reaction temperature was essential for the good product selectivity. A high product selectivity was also obtained when the ratio of hydrogen and reactants kept less than 1.5. Moreover, a correlation model involving the statistical approach to predict product yields was developed.