1 INTRODUCTION

The relative demand of propene, butene and isobutene present a need and an opportunity for on-purpose manufacture of these chemicals, as opposed to their traditional sourcing as by-products from steam cracking and catalytic cracking. While various schemes have been proposed for the on-purpose production, the most feasible on a commercial scale at present is catalytic dehydrogenation of the relevant alkane. The dehydrogenation of light alkanes has been known as a catalytic process for a significant number of years1 ^,2. Hence catalytic dehydrogenation has now developed into a major route for the valorisation of alkanes and for the production of active, functionalised molecules. For simple catalytic dehydrogenation reactions, such as the dehydrogenation of light alkanes, the industrial catalytic processes fall into two categories, those based on platinum as the active phase3 ^,4 and those based on chromia as the active phase5. However in both cases the catalytic process is complex with a series of competing reactions occurring simultaneously, for example, the basic alkane dehydrogenation reaction is accompanied by various side reactions, comprising essentially the cracking of the feed hydrocarbon to lower hydrocarbons and the formation of dehydrogenated carbonaceous species on the catalyst surface. The formation of this "coke" leads to the deactivation of the catalyst, and the catalyst requires regular regeneration to restore its activity. None of the current industrial processes are ideal and ways of improving the process,...