<p>The high-demand olefins are produced from paraffins via dehydrogenation in catalytic packed bed reactors. Sn-promoted Pt catalysts supported on alumina were reported to have excellent selectivity to olefins at a lower active metal loading. However, paraffin conversion was low. Additionally, the catalysts suffer from deactivation due to coking. Mixed-paraffin dehydrogenation was proposed to achieve higher conversion with negligible change in olefin selectivity. Estimation of deactivation kinetics and understanding the type and location of coke deposited are critical for designing efficient catalyst regeneration processes. In this work, six Pt–Sn catalysts (different reducing agents and supports) were synthesized using the wetness impregnation method. Individual- and mixed-paraffin dehydrogenation was performed in a fixed-bed reactor. The kinetic parameters were obtained from activity vs. time data. The amount of coke deposited was obtained from thermogravimetric analysis under a zero-air atmosphere, which was also used to estimate the kinetic parameters for different stages of the coke removal process using Fraser-Suzuki deconvolution of differential thermogravimetric (DTG) data and the Coats-Redfern method. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopies were used to understand the nature of coke deposited. All the catalysts followed second-order deactivation. Two peaks were observed during the deconvolution of DTG data. The random-scission and second-order models were the best fit for the two peaks, respectively. The activation energy for decoking was between 150 and 216 kJ/mol.</p> Graphical Abstract <p></p>