The effects of SiO2/Al2O3 and H2O/Al2O3 molar ratios on SAPO-34 catalysts in methanol to olefins (MTO) process using experimental design

To investigate the effects of silicon and water content on SAPO-34 catalyst, a number of experiments by using response surface methodology of molar ratios of SiO2/Al2O3 = 0.1-0.6 and H2O/Al2O3 = 50-120 were performed. The catalytic performances of prepared SAPO-34 samples at 410 degrees C and 30 wt.% methanol in water for MTO process were investigated. Due to relatively high crystallinity and small crystal size (1.3 mu m); SiO2/Al2O3 = 0.17 and H2O/Al2O3 = 109.75 catalyst showed high total light olefins selectivity (71.45%). ANOVA results indicated that the light olefins selectivity was influenced more by changing of SiO2/Al2O3 molar ratio rather of H2O/Al2O3 molar ratio. (C) 2015 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.