Effect of Si/Al ratio on performance of Pt–Sn-based catalyst supported on ZSM-5 zeolite for n-butane conversion to light olefins

The performance of Pt–Sn-based catalyst, supported on ZSM-5 of different Si/Al ratios were investigated for simultaneous dehydrogenation and cracking of n-butane to produce light olefins. The catalysts were characterized by number of physio-chemical techniques including XRF, TEM, IR spectra, NH3-TPD and O2-pulse analysis. Increase in Si/Al ratio of zeolite support ZSM-5 significantly increased light olefin's selectivity, while feed conversion decreases due to lower acidity of support. The results indicated that both the n-butane cracking and dehydrogenation activity to light olefin's over Pt–Sn/ZSM-5 samples with increasing Si/Al ratios greatly enhanced catalytic performance. The catalysts were deactivated with time-on-stream due to the formation of carbon-containing deposits. A coke deposition was significantly related to catalyst activity, while at higher Si/Al ratio catalyst the coke precursors were depressed. These results suggested that the Pt–Sn/ZSM-5 catalyst of Si/Al ratio 300 is superior in achieving high total olefins selectivity (above 90 wt.%). The Pt–Sn/ZSM-5 also demonstrates resistance towards hydrothermal treatment, as analyzed through the three successive reaction-regeneration cycles.