Influence of synthesis parameters on the properties of ZSM-5 & on their catalytic activity for 1-butene isomerization

Abstract

The synthesis and preparation of active and selective zeolite catalysts (H-ZSM-5 and H-ZSM-22) for the skeletal isomerization reaction of 1-butene to iso-butene were investigated.H-ZSM-5 zeolite catalysts were synthesized by varying the synthesis time (3, 6, 12, 24, 48 and 72 h), stirring mode (static, rotational), the initial SiO2/Al2O3 ratio (15 , 30, 70) and SiO2/TPABr (Tetrapropylammonium bromide) ratio (3,3; 5,5; 12,5) of the hydrogel.A synthesis work for H-ZSM-22 type zeolite materials was also carried out both in static and rotational mode.Catalytic activity tests were performed in a constructed fixed bed tubular quartz reactor system at 440 and 375oC at weight hourly space velocities (WHSV) of 22 and 11 h-1.The X-Ray Powder Diffraction patterns and Scanning Electron Microscopy images of ZSM-5 zeolites showed that the particle size and phase purity of ZSM-5 increased with increase in synthesis time.The XRD pattern of Na-ZSM-5 zeolite synthesized by the static mode showed a higher degree of crystallization than the rotational synthesis.The sample synthesized with high Al content in the initial hydrogel (SiO2/Al2O3.15) showed less crystallization than the samples synthesized with low Al content.Increasing Si/Al ratio in the synthesis hydrogel resulted in an increase in the surface area (533 m2/g).TPABr content was found to be an important factor in the crystallization of ZSM-5 zeolites.Lowest TPABr content resulted in an amorphous phase.Increase in the organic cation content enhanced the crystallization, and larger size ZSM-5 crystals with higher phase purity and surface area were achieved. The crystal phase obtained from the hydrogel which was prepared for the synthesis of ZSM-22, were affected significantly by the synthesis mode.The catalysts prepared were tested for isomerization of 1-butene at 440oC and 22h-1 WHSV.It was found that the hydrogel composition highly influenced the catalytic properties of H-ZSM-5 giving a range of conversion and selectivity for iso-butene.Al rich zeolite (initial SiO2/Al2O3.15) showed very low selectivity (2%).This was attributed to the higher acidity of this zeolite. In contrast the samples having medium and high SiO2/Al2O3 ratios 30 and 70 gave high selectivity (52% and 56% respectively) and yield (26% and 28% respectively) under the same reaction conditions.The sample with initial SiO2/Al2O3.30, SiO2/TPABr. 3.3 gave the highest yield to iso-butene (28%) under the same reaction conditions (440oC , 22h-1). Reaction at a lower temperature (375oC) increased iso-butene yield to 32% by suppressing the byproduct formation. Decreasing the WHSV (11 h-1) increased conversion from 40% to 48% and giving yield of 32% iso-butene. The test for long time on stream (24 h) to asses catalytic deactivation, showed slight increase in the yield of iso-butene (%33).