Higher BTEX aromatic yield from ethanol over desilicated H,Zn-[Al]ZSM-5 catalysts†

The amount of BTEX aromatics obtained from the conversion of ethanol (ETA) is increased by combining ZSM-5 catalysts having optimum acidity with desilication and zinc ion exchange. Zinc leads to preferred dehydrogenation instead of hydrogen transfer. It decreases the share of paraffin products and increases BTEX contents (up to S_BTEX = 50%) at the cost of lifetime. The latter can be increased via desilication. An ethylene feed increases lifetime and BTEX production as result of oxygenate absence. Combination of improvements resulted in a C₂ conversion capacity of 206 g g⁻¹ and a total yield of BTEX aromatics of 31.6 g g⁻¹, which is about a factor of 2–3 times better than the respective values found for microporous, mesoporous, or microporous Zn-exchanged materials. In situ UV/vis spectra reveal that desilicated samples coke significantly slower than microporous samples, whereas Zn exchange supports the formation of coke. Thus, by a clever combination of suitable post-modifications, a significantly higher BTEX production from the primary source ethanol can be achieved.