Effects of Light Rare Earth on Acidity and Catalytic Performance of HZSM-5 Zeolite for Catalytic Cracking of Butane to Light Olefins

The effects of rare earth (RE) on the structure, acidity, and catalytic performance of HZSM-5 zeolite were investigated. A series of RE/HZSM-5 catalysts, containing 7.54% RE (RE = La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu or Gd), were prepared by the impregnation of the ZSM-5 type zeolites (Si/Al =64:1) with the corresponding RE nitrate aqueous solutions. The catalysts were characterized by means of FT-IR, UV-Vis, NH3-TPD, and IR spectroscopy of adsorbed pyridine. The catalytic performances of the RE/HZSM-5 for the catalytic cracking of mixed butane to light olefins were also measured with a fixed bed microreactor. The results revealed that the addition of light rare earth metal on the HZSM-5 catalyst greatly enhanced the selectivity to olefins, especially to propylene, thus increasing the total yield of olefins in the catalytic cracking of butane. Among the RE-modified HZSM-5 samples, Ce/HZSM-5 gave the highest yield of total olefins, and Nd/HZSM-5 gave the highest yield of propene at a reaction temperature of 600°C. The presence of rare earth metal on the HZSM-5 sample, not only modified the acidic properties of HZSM-5 including the amount of acid sites and acid type, that is, the ratio of L/B (Lewis acid/Brönsted acid), but also altered the basic properties of it, which in turn promoted the catalytic performance of HZSM-5 for the catalytic cracking of butane.