Effect of different acidity modifications on the activity and selectivity on H-ZSM5 zeolites in n-butene isomerization

Abstract

H-ZSM-5 was modified by silylation [tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) and triaminopropyltriethoxysilane], alkali (NaOH), acid (HCl) and ammoniumhexafluorosilicate (AHFS) treatments. The parent and modified zeolite forms were tested in n-butene isomerization. Modifications affected total acidities, the strength of the acid sites, pore sizes and surface areas of the H-ZSM-5 differently. The modifications decreased the conversion obtained by the parent catalyst. TEOS and alkali modifications did not promote formation of isobutene. Pre-alkali treatment before acid treatment increased selectivity to isobutene from 56.0 to 66.7 %, while conversion changed a little, it dropped from 52 to 50 %. AHFS modification provided the highest enhancement in selectivity to isobutene (87.5 %) for which n-butene conversion was dropped by about 10 % compared to H-ZSM-5. This was attributed to a slight modification of the pore size and to the reduction in strong and weak acid sites and generation of new Lewis acid sites.