Adjusting acidity and porosity of Al‐SBA‐15 catalyst for methanol to dimethyl ether reaction

Abstract

The present study aims to conduct a systematic assessment of Al-SBA-15 as the aluminum-substituted mesoporous catalyst for raw methanol dehydration to dimethyl ether (MTD). The catalysts are synthesized by varying the pretreatment variables (pH of the preparation and Si/Al ratio), the posttreatment variable (steaming time), and by the addition of aluminophosphate as the binder. The experimental design and the analysis of the results, especially the relation of characterization results and reactor performance, are performed by the optimal response surface method in Design-Expert software. The prepared micro-mesoporous catalyst exhibits an excellent activity, stability, and DME selectivity; therefore, it can be introduced as an efficient catalyst for raw methanol dehydration.

Synthesis of Mesoporous Aluminosilicates with Moderate Acidity and High Hydrothermal Stability by Acid-Free Method

“…Figure shows the Py-IR spectra of samples Al-MMS-3, Al-MMS-5, and Al-MMS-7 at 200 and 350 °C, respectively. Three pyridine adsorption peaks are displayed on the Py-IR curve of all samples, namely Bro̷nsted acid center (at 1490 and 1540 cm –1 ) and Lewis acid center (at 1455 and 1490 cm –1 ). , With the decrease of n (SiO 2 )/ n (Al 2 O 3 ) of the final product, the adsorption peak intensity increases, indicating that the grafting of Al significantly increases the Bro̷nsted acid sites and Lewis acid sites in the product.…”

Non‐Oxidative Conversion of Methanol to Dimethyl Ether, Methyl Formate and Dimethoxymethane over Cu/Hβ Catalyst: Tailoring Product Selectivity

“…[15,17,18] Many solid acid catalysts have been reported in methanol dehydration to DME, such as alumina, [19,20] mixed oxides, [21] zeolites [22] (H-ZSM, [23][24][25] CHA, [26] mordenite, [27] etc. ), Al-SBA-15, [28] polymeric acids, [29] heteropoly acids [30] and more. However, the current challenge upon using the solid acid catalysts is to maintain high DME selectivity through suppressing the formation of hydrocarbons, and to prevent deactivation of the catalyst by water, DME, and coke.…”