Gas-phase oxidation of benzene using Cu-loaded MFI binderless zeolite compacts

Abstract

Phenols are essential raw materials for various fields, and several studies have focused on their synthesis. The development of an efficient one-step synthetic method for the industrial production of phenols is highly important in terms of cost, energy, and environmental impact. In this study, we investigated the formation of phenols via the gas-phase oxidation of benzene using copper-loaded MFI zeolite compacts prepared via a binderless zeolite synthetic method. The catalytic activity of the zeolite in the gas-phase phenol one-step synthetic reaction was investigated, in addition to the effect of benzene diffusion in the molded zeolite and the reaction due to water vapor addition to the reaction gas. The results showed that the activity of the copper-loaded MFI zeolite compacts was almost equivalent to that of powdered copper-loaded MFI zeolites. An effect of diffusion was observed on the external boundary film diffusion where the linear velocity was low. However, no effect of diffusion or internal diffusion was observed in the area where the linear velocity was high. Furthermore, the addition of water vapor to the reaction gas suppressed the decrease in phenol formation activity due to the formation of coke on the catalyst surface.