Temperature and ethanol concentration effects on catalytic ethanol dehydration behaviors over alumina-spherical silica particle composite catalysts

Abstract

The catalytic dehydration of ethanol was studied over spherical silica particle (SSP) and alumina-silica composite (Al-SSP). The catalysts were prepared by the modified sol-gel method with various alumina content ranging from 20 to 80 mol%. The 60Al-SSP catalyst exhibited the highest weak (Lewis) and total acid site giving the best ethanol conversion of 98% and ethylene selectivity of 99% at 400 °C and enhanced the catalytic performance with the excellent activity and stability with TOS for 10 h. Changing acid sites of catalyst due to water effect in different ethanol concentrations also led to a better ethylene selectivity.