Non-oxidutive conversion of methane to aromatics over Mo modified zeolite catalysts

The conversion of methane to aromatics, mainly benzene, has been studied. 1, 3, 6 wt% Mo/HZSM-5) catalysts were prepared by impregnation of HZSM-5 (SiO2/Al2O3 = 50) with metal oxide and calcination at 773K for 5 h in air.Catalytic tests were carried out under atmospheric pressure in a continuous-flow fixed-bed quartz reactor of 1 cm ID, which was charged with 0.5 g of catalyst. The catalytic performance of the 1, 3, 6 wt% Mo/HZSM-5 catalysts was investigated during the nonoxidative conversion of natural gas to products at 600, 700, 800 °C and gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) of 1500, 2250, 3600 ml/g.h. The catalysts were characterized by XRD and the reaction mechanism is discussed. Based on yield of Benzene, the best temperature and GHSV were 700°C and 2250 ml/gh, respectively. The highest methane conversion was 11.13% for 3%wt Mo modified HZSM-5