Characterisation and catalytic testing of VOx/Al2O3 catalysts for microstructured reactors

With regard to the application in a microstructured reactor, a special VOx/Al2O3 catalyst powder (3 μm) was prepared and characterised by BET, XRD, UV/Vis DRS, and Raman spectroscopy. The higher the vanadium content, the higher the degree of polymerisation of the vanadium species on the support surface and the lower the BET surface area. Pelletised powders were tested in conventional tubular reactors for their catalytic performance in the oxidative dehydrogenation of propane. Their activity increases with vanadia loading, whereas selectivity towards propene decreases at iso-conversion. Catalytic benchmarking was performed to choose a reasonable catalyst for further investigations in a microreactor.