Synthesis of nano/micro scale ZSM-5 from kaolin and its catalytic performance

Abstract

Nano/micro scale ZSM-5 zeolites were synthesized by using natural kaolin as raw material. The effect of particle size on the catalytic performance of ZSM-5 zeolite for the methanol to olefins conversion was evaluated in a fixed-bed reactor. The results indicated the crystal size had a significant effect on the catalytic stability and the products distribution. ZSM-5 with nanosize showed better tolerance to coke formation, longer catalytic lifetime, and higher selectivity to propylene. The selectivity to propylene on nanosized ZSM-5 was on average 4.5% higher than on the submicron sample and 10% higher than on microsized ZSM-5. After the reaction was conducted for 20 h the ZSM-5 catalyst synthesized from kaolin showed longer lifetime and higher propylene selectivity than the sample synthesized with chemical materials The reason can be explained by the occurence of such elements as Fe, P, and especially Ti.