화학공학소재연구정보센터
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol.53, No.2, 572-581, 2014
Nonoxidative Aromatization of CH4 Using C3H8 As a Coreactant: Thermodynamic and Experimental Analysis
The effect of propane addition to the feed of methane aromatization process was studied both thermodynamically and experimentally. Thermodynamic equilibrium calculations were performed within temperature, pressure, and CH4/C3H8 molar ratio ranges of 673-873 K, 1-10 bar, and 0-20, respectively, considering different constraints according to two alternative reaction network models. Experimental evaluations were conducted in a fixed-bed reactor over Zn/HZSM-5 catalyst under different operating conditions. Methane formation showed an induction period of about 4 h on stream. Aromatic yield slightly increased with increase of methane concentration in the feed. Experimental results showed the best agreement with the thermodynamic model based on a proposed mechanism of methylation of propane-derived aromatics by methane, giving equilibrium methane conversions of about 1% under the above conditions. Both thermodynamic and experimental results revealed that in the presence of propane cofeed, the contribution of methane to the overall reaction is negligibly small on a net basis.