Synthesis of ZSM-5 Zeolite Using Coal Fly Ash as an Additive for the Methanol to Propylene (MTP) Reaction

Using ZSM-5 zeolites as catalysts for the methanol to propylene (MTP) reaction is being widely investigated and has been industrially applied. In this study, pure ZSM-5 zeolite was successfully synthesized by a direct hydrothermal method using the fly ash of coal gasification as an additional raw material. Various analysis methods such as X-ray diffraction, N-2 sorption, scanning electron microscopy, and infrared spectroscopy, were employed to characterize the physicochemical properties of parent and modified zeolites. Then, the prepared ZSM-5 catalysts were tested in the MTP reaction. The results showed that pure ZSM-5 could be directly synthesized in the optimized conditions using fly ash as additional silicon and aluminum sources, and those ZSM-5 catalysts turned out to be candidate catalysts for the MTP reaction. Whereas their catalytic lifetimes were not good enough due to the strong acid sites and needed improving.