Methanol Dehydration to Dimethyl Ether over Modified γ-Al2O3 with Acid, Base and Zeolite (NaA and NaX)

https://doi.org/10.22146/ajche.51354

Maria Ulfah(1*), Hendra Suherman(2), Melia Laniwati(3), IGBN Makertihartha(4), Subagjo Subagjo(5)

(1) Department of Chemical Engineering, Bung Hatta University, Jl. Gajahmada No. 19, Nanggalo Olo, Kampus III Bung Hatta University, Padang , Indonesia
(2) Department of Chemical Engineering, Bung Hatta University
(3) Chemical Reaction Engineering & Catalysis Group, Department of Chemical Engineering, Institut Technology Bandung
(4) Chemical Reaction Engineering & Catalysis Group, Department of Chemical Engineering, Institut Technology Bandung
(5) Chemical Reaction Engineering & Catalysis Group, Department of Chemical Engineering, Institut Technology Bandung
(*) Corresponding Author

Abstract


The effect of acids, bases, zeolite NaA and zeolite NaX impregnation to g-Al2O3 on the catalyst characteristics and activity against methanol dehydration reaction were investigated. The catalyst characteristics include N2 physisorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and temperature-programmed desorption of ammonia (NH3-TPD) in addition to catalytic dehydration of methanol performed in a micro fixed-bed reactor at 270°C and 1 atm. The results of XRD characterization showed no changes related to the modification of alumina over acids, bases, and zeolite NaA and zeolite NaX. Therefore, the modification did not have any effect on the crystalline structure of alumina. The textural and surface acidity of g-Al2O3 changed post addition of acids, bases, zeolite NaA and zeolite NaX. NH3-TPD analysis results demonstrated that synthesized g-Al2O3 has three types of acid sites: weak, medium, and strong; however, the weak acid sites were not observed on alumina catalysts modified phosphate, KOH, zeolite NaA, and zeolite NaX. Furthermore, the concentration of strong acid sites increased in the catalyst containing KOH. The catalytic test results showed that the untreated g-Al2O3 catalyst gave prominent activity in dehydration of methanol compared to the treated catalyst following the number and strength of acid sites.

 


Keywords


Dimetyl ether; Methanol dehydration; Modified alumina; Surface acidity; Textural properties

Full Text:

PDF


References

  1. Akarmazyan, S. S., Panagiotopoulou, P., Kambolis, A., Papadopoulou, C., and Kondarides, D. I. (2014). “Methanol dehydration to dimethylether over Al2O3 Catalyst,” Appl. Catal. B-Environ., 145, 136– 148.
  2. Ardy, A., Pohan, R.D.A., Rizkiana, J., Laniwati, M., and Susanto, S. (2019). “Dehydration of Methanol to Dimethyl Ether (DME): Performance of Thhree Types of Catalyst at Atmospheric Pressure,” AIP Conference Proceedings 2085, 020064.
  3. Fu, Y., Hong, T., Chen, J., Auroux, A., and Shen, J. (2005). “Surface acidity and the dehydration of methanol to dimethyl ether,” Thermochim. Acta, 434, 22.
  4. Iftitahiyah, V. N., Prasetyoko, D., Nur, H., Bahruji, H., and Hartati (2018). “Synthesis and characterization of zeolite NaX from Bangka Belitung Kaolin as alternative precursor,” Mal. J. Fund. Appl. Sci. Vol. 14, No. 4, 414-418.
  5. Kim, S. M., Lee, Y. J., Bae, J. W., Potdar, H. S., and Jun K. W. (2008). “Synthesis and characterization of a highly active alumina catalyst for methanol dehydration to dimethyl ether,” Appl. Catal. A-Gen. 348, 113–120.
  6. Limlamthong, M., Chitpong, N., and Jongsomjit, B. (2019). “Influence of phosphoric acid modification on catalytic g-c properties of Al2O3 catalysts for dehydration of ethanol to diethyl ether,” Bull. Chem. React. Eng. Catal. 14 (1), 1-8.
  7. Malkov, A. A., Chernikova, N. V., Chernikova, M. V., and Malygin, A. A. (2017). “Thermal transformations of gamma alumina with phosphorus oxide surface nanostructures,” Russ. J. Appl. Chem. Vol. 90, No. 5, pp. 684-690.
  8. Mao, D., Yang, W., Xia, J., Zhang, B., and Lu, G. (2006). “The direct synthesis of dimethyl ether from syngas over hybrid catalysts with sulfate-modified g-alumina as methanol dehydration components,” J. Mol. Catal. A-Chem. 250, 138–144.
  9. Milton and Buffallo (959a). U. S. Pat 2882243.
  10. Milton and Buffallo (959a). U. S. Pat. 2882244.
  11. Mollavali, M., Yaripour, F., Mohammadi-Jam, S., and Atashi, H. (2009). “Relationship between surface acidity and activity of solid-acid catalysts in vapour phase dehydration of methanol,” Fuel Process. Technol. 90, 1093.
  12. Saravanan, K., Ham, H., Tsubaki, N., and Bae, J. W. (2017). “Recent progress for direct synthesis of dimethyl ether from syngas on the heterogeneous bifunctional hybrid catalysts,” Appl. Catal. B-Environ., 217, 494-522.
  13. Sing, K. S. W., Everett, D. H., Haul, R. A. W., and Moscou, L. (1985). “Reporting physisorption data for gas/solid systems with special reference to the determination of surface area and porosity,” Pure Appl. Chem., 603–619.
  14. Somderam, S., Aziz, A. S. A., Abdullah, A. H., and Mat, R. (2019). “Characterisation of NaA zeolite made from Malaysian Kaolin,” Chem. Eng. Trans., Vol. 72, 325-330.
  15. Sun, J., Yang, G., Yoneyama, Y., and Tsubaki, N. (2014). Catalysis chemistry of dimethyl ether synthesis,” ACS Catal. 4 (10), 3346–3356.
  16. Tokay, K. C., Dogu, T., and Dogu, G. (2012). “Dimethyl ether synthesis over alumina based catalysts,” Chem. Eng. J. 184, 278–285.
  17. Ulfah, M., and Subagjo (2012). “Effect of alumina support properties on the nickel-molibdenum base hydrotreating catalyst,” Reaktor, Vol. 14 No. 2, 151-157.
  18. Wang, B., Wen, Y., and Huang, W. (2013). “The dehydration of methanol to dimethyl ether over a novel solid acid-base catalyst,” Energ. Source. Part A, 35:17, 1590-1596.
  19. Yaripour, F., Baghhaei, F., Schmit, I., and Perregaard, J. (2005). “Synthesis of dimethyl ether from methanol over aluminium phosphate and silica–titania catalysts,” Catal. Commun. 6 (8), 542–549.
  20. Zhou, C., Wang, N., Qian, Y., Liu, X., Caro, J., and Huang, A. (2016). “Efficient synthesis of dimethyl ether from methanol in a bifunctional zeolite membrane reactor,” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 55, 1–6.



DOI: https://doi.org/10.22146/ajche.51354

Article Metrics

Abstract views : 3677 | views : 4304

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


ASEAN Journal of Chemical Engineering  (print ISSN 1655-4418; online ISSN 2655-5409) is published by Chemical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Gadjah Mada.