Ethanol Conversion to Ethylene Using Metal-Mordenite Catalysts

The aqueous ethanol conversion was investigated on dealuminated mordenite (DM) and a series of DM/metal catalysts prepared by impregnation (IMP) and solid-state ion exchange (SSIE). The catalysts were characterized by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), nitrogen adsorption method (BET). The conversion of aqueous ethanol (10.0%) on mordenite/metal catalysts was compared at temperature of 350C. reaction time of 1 h, WHSV (weight hourly space velocity) of 1 h-1 and catalyst weight of 1 g. The product is mainly ethylene with small quantity of other light olefins. At higher temperature (550°C) methane was formed as a result of decomposition reaction. Among several metals (Zn, Mn, Co, Rh, Ni, Fe and Ag) which were incorporated onto the mordenite to prepare DM/single and mixed metal catalysts tested in this work, it was found that DM/Zn and DM/Zn-Ag catalysts prepared by impregnation method gave the highest selectivity to ethylene. For DM/Ni catalyst, it showed high selectivity to ethane due to its hydrogenation ability.