Dehydrogenation of diethylbenzene and ethylbenzene on Fe(with or without K)/Al2O3 catalysts
摘要
Low-iron content (1.0 wt%) and potassium-promoted (0.2 wt%) alumina-supported catalysts were used for the dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene and diethylbenzene. The experiments were conducted in a bench-scale fixed-bed flow reactor under typical industrial conditions (T = 600 °C, WHSV = 1.0 h−1) with TOS from 220 to 480 h. The catalysts were characterized using techniques such as SEM–EDS, XRF, BET surface area analysis, Hg-porosimetry, and XRD. The conversion products for ethylbenzene and diethylbenzene (the latter of which has been less frequently explored in the literature) were analyzed to assess the catalytic activity and selectivity towards styrene, divinylbenzene, and other secondary products, including toluene, naphthalene, benzene, ethyl-methylbenzene, ethyl-vinylbenzene, and acetophenone. The maximum ethylbenzene conversion was 62.5 wt% with a selectivity to styrene of 49.2 wt%. The maximum conversion of diethylbenzene was 81 wt% with a divinylbenzene selectivity of 21 wt%. The K addition led to a significant impact on catalyst activity. The catalytic performance of diethylbenzene dehydrogenation was less stable than that of ethylbenzene dehydrogenation, with rapid deactivation due to carbon deposits blocking active sites.