Journal of Petroleum & Environmental Biotechnology

MTBE synthesis on BEA type zeolites

4^th International Conference on Petroleum Engineering

August 15-17, 2016 London, UK

Begum Tokay and Ay�?e Erdem-�?enatalar

University of Nottingham, UK
Istanbul Technical University, Turkey

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Pet Environ Biotechnol

Abstract:

The ion exchange resins used as catalysts in the production of octane boosting ethers e.g. MTBE and ETBE are thermally unstable at temperatures above 100oC, decompose to corrosive products that cause environmental problems. Zeolites are known to be potential alternative catalysts for the synthesis of ethers since they offer the advantages of high thermal stabilities and selectivities. Although MTBE usage has banned over 20 states in the US and limited in EU countries, its demand has increased in the past few years driven by cleaner fuel requirements in China and increased gasoline consumption in Asia, Americas, and the Middle East. Zeolite Beta is a BEA type zeolite and gives a much higher activity for the same reaction when compared to other zeolites. The importance of zeolite Beta has increased recently since BASF synthesized organic template free version. The purpose of this study was to gain more insight about the factors affecting the MTBE synthesis activities of zeolite Beta. A commercial sample was used as catalysts in the reaction at different temperatures. The catalyst was characterized by chemical analyses. Nitrogen adsorption was carried out to obtain surface area. Kinetic experiments were conducted to determine the dependence of the reaction rates on the concentrations of the reactants. Kinetic data was treated with the LHHW approach for possible reaction mechanisms. The results show that the MTBE synthesis activities of the Beta catalyst are higher than other zeolites in literature. Synthesis is discussed with the kinetic data and possible reaction mechanisms.

Biography :

Email: Begum.Tokay@nottingham.ac.uk