Dimethyl ether conversion to light olefins over the SAPO-34/ZrO2 composite catalysts with high lifetime

The SAPO-34/ZrO2 composite catalysts using ZrO2 as a binder were prepared and their performance was investigated for the dimethyl ether to olefins (DTO) reaction. The composite catalysts showed higher catalytic lifetimes than the free SAPO-34 catalyst, while maintaining high selectivity toward light olefins. This suggests that the binder-filled space between the SAPO-34 crystals can provide additional diffusion paths for mass transfer. In the SAPO-34/ZrO2 composite catalysts with different ZrO2 contents, the SAPO-34(11 wt%)/ZrO2 composite catalyst showed the highest catalytic lifetime. It can be concluded that ZrO2 is one of the best binders for the preparation of SAPO-34/binder composite catalysts. (C) 2013 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.