Kinetic modelling of methanol transformation into p-xylene on a 3Zn-3Si/ZSM-5 catalyst

In this work, the study of the kinetics of the transformation of methanol to aromatics was conducted over a 3Zn-3Si/ZSM-5 catalyst for the high selectivity of p-xylene. In the kinetic model the products were divided into four lumps, i.e., methanol and dimethyl ether, alkanes and alkenes, aromatics (except p-xylene), and p-xylene. The kinetics were studied at temperatures of 623.15-748.15 K. The kinetic model and its parameters were calculated by the Runge-Kutta method and the optimisation method of the genetic algorithm. Corresponding reaction rate constant values, k (Table 2) and equations of r for kinetic reactions (eqn (4)-(9)) were obtained. The statistical analysis was performed using the rho(2) and F-test, and the statistical analysis showed that the established model was credible. This work provides theoretical support for the subsequent reactor simulation and design.