The invention discloses a preparation method and an
activation method of a
Raney nickel-aluminum-X catalyst specially for hydrogenation preparation of 1,4-
butanediol from 1,4-butynediol. The
Raney nickel-aluminum-X catalyst is characterized in that a
mass ratio of
nickel to aluminum is (0.5 to 1): 1; X of which
mass is 0.1 to 2% of total
mass of
nickel and aluminum is adopted; and X represents Mg, B, Sr, Cr, S, Ti, La, Sn, W, Mo or Fe. The preparation method comprises the following steps of putting
nickel, aluminum and X into a
medium frequency induction
smelting furnace according to the
mass ratio, carrying out
smelting, pouring out melt, cooling, crushing, and
grinding to obtain
powder which is the
Raney nickel-aluminum-X catalyst. The
activation method comprises the following steps that an alkali solution and the Raney nickel-aluminum-X catalyst which is
powder are uniformly mixed according to a
mass ratio of (2: 1) to (10: 1) and then undergo a reaction with stirring, wherein the alkali solution is a
sodium hydroxide or
potassium hydroxide solution having a concentration of 5 to 25wt%; after the reaction is finished, the reaction products are washed by
distilled water and
anhydrous ethanol until a pH value of the reaction products is 7; and the reaction products having a pH value of 7 are preserved in
ethanol. In the presence of the Raney nickel-aluminum-X catalyst, in hydrogenation preparation of 1,4-
butanediol from 1,4-butynediol, a conversion rate is in a range of 98 to 100% and selectivity of 1,4-
butanediol is in a range of 90 to 98%.