Cracking of cumene on tungsten promoted ceria catalysts

Abstract

Tungsten promoted pure and sulfated ceria systems are employed as solid acid catalysts for the vapor phase cumene cracking reaction. The catalytic systems are prepared by the pseudo-template method. The results show the presence of both Lewis and Brønsted acid sites on the catalyst. Upon modification with tungsten oxide, an enhancement in the number of Lewis acid sites is observed. a-methyl styrene is the major product along with some dealkylated products. The influence of reaction conditions such as temperature, flow rate and time on stream on the conversion and selectivity is also investigated. Time on stream studies suggest deactivation of the catalysts presumably because of the coke formation on the acid sites.