| Summary: | The performance of ZSM-5, γ-Al2O3 and WO3/SiO2 catalysts for the dehydration of methanol was studied in a fixed bed reactor over a temperature range of 150 to 450 °C and at atmospheric pressure. A parallel reaction scheme for dehydration of methanol to dimethyl ether and methane was proposed for the WO3/SiO2 catalyst, and kinetic parameters for the two reactions were identified. The WO3/SiO2 catalyst was less active than both ZSM-5 and γ-Al2O3 for dehydration. At temperatures above 400 °C, experimental data indicated that WO3/SiO2 could be producing heavier hydrocarbons than the other catalysts. The gas product for γ-Al2O3 and WO3/SiO2 also contained ethylene and methane whereas the gas product for ZSM-5 contained propane and propylene. At higher temperatures ZSM-5 produced gasoline range hydrocarbons but a similar product was absent from all experiments conducted using the WO3/SiO2 and γ-Al2O3 catalysts. It has been shown that WO3/SiO2 can function as a methanol dehydration catalyst for the synthesis of dimethyl ether.
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