Studies of Aromatization of Propane over Mo/HZSM-5 Zeolite Catalysts

Three Mo/HZSM 5 catalysts used for propane aromatization are prepared by means of impregnation, mechanical mixing and hydrothermal methods. The influence of Mo content, reaction time on stream are examined. The catalyst structure and surface acidity are studied by means of XRD, FT IR, NH 3 TPD and XPS. The results show that the performance of the catalyst made by hydrothermal method is much better than that of the other two catalysts. The propane conversion and aromatics selectivity over this catalyst can respectively reach 89 17% and 78 56% under the conditions of 550 ℃ and 600 h -1 (GHSV). MoO 3 species in this catalyst is highly dispersed on the surface of HZSM 5, and more of them can penetrate into HZSM 5 channel than the other two catalysts, which may be responsible for the high aromatization performance. The results from IR and NH 3 TPD show that the acidity change of the catalyst is favorable to the enhance of aromatics formation.