The reaction of methanol to light olefins and water (MTO) was
studied in a fixed bed tubular membrane reactor using
commercial SAPO-34 catalyst. In the fixed bed reactor without
membrane support, the MTO reaction collapsed after 3 h time
on stream. However, if the reaction by-product steam is in situ
extracted from the reactor through a hydrophilic tubular LTA
membrane, the reactor produces long-term stable about 60%
ethene and 10% propene. It is shown that the reason for the
superior performance of the membrane-assisted reactor is not
the prevention of catalyst damage caused by steam but the
influence of the water removal on the formation of different
carbonaceous residues inside the SAPO-34 cages. Catalytically
beneficial methylated 1 or 2 ring aromatics have been found in
a higher percentage in the MTO reaction with a water removal
membrane compared to the MTO reaction without membrane
support.
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