Methanol dehydration to dimethyl ether in a platelet milli-reactor filled with H-ZSM5/SiC foam catalyst

Milli-structured reactors and process miniaturization have received an over increasing scientific interest during the last decades for the development of new generation of catalytic systems, which can find application in several catalytic processes. Here we report the development of a platelet milli-structured reactor filled with ceramic SiC foam with open porosity, high mixing efficiency, fully accessible surface area and low pressure drop. The SiC support was coated with a homogeneous layer of H-ZSM5 zeolite acting as an active phase for the catalytic dehydration of methanol into dimethyl ether. This hybrid catalyst shows an excellent and stable dehydration activity even at high space velocity due to the foam structure with high reactants mixing efficiency and better effective surface area. The low diffusion length of the foam strut also provide a high escaping of the product reducing secondary reaction and also carbonaceous residue deposit the catalyst and thus, no deactivation was observed for a long-term test.

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► SiC foam supported H-ZSM5 zeolite as catalyst.
► Catalysts for methanol dehydration into dimethylether in a platelet millireactor.
► Foam structure allows the low diffusion problem and mixing efficiency.
► No deactivation was observed as a function of time on stream.