Enhanced production of high octane gasoline blending stock from methanol with improved catalyst life on nano-crystalline ZSM-5 catalyst

Methanol value addition reaction has been studied on lab-synthesized nano-crystalline ZSM-5, Si/Al = 13 (NZ) possessing particle size of ∼29–51 nm and a micro-crystalline ZSM-5 (MZ) of similar atomic ratio is also taken as standard for comparison studies. The NZ sample exhibited excellent catalytic activity to produce 50.7 wt.% of high octane (Research Octane Number = 137) gasoline blending stock rich in desired toluene and xylene components, while the undesired benzene is very low, suitable for fuel applications. The superior performance of NZ to MZ catalyst reflected in three fold increase in gasoline yield and considerably high time-on-stream performance.