A comparative study on the dehydration of monoethanolamine over cesium phosphate modified zeolite catalysts

Cesium phosphate modified zeolite catalysts were prepared by wet impregnation method. The reaction activity of monoethanolamine (MEA) dehydration was evaluated in a fixed-bed flow microreactor at atmosphere. The experimental results revealed the great effects of the zeolite type, Si/Al molar ratio, and cesium content in catalysts on the reaction activity of MEA dehydration. Modified Hβ zeolite catalyst is favor of producing 2-methylpyrazine and 2-ethylpyrazine, and modified H-ZSM-5 zeolite catalyst is favor of producing triethylenediamine. With the increase of Si/Al ratio between 25 and 100 in modified H-ZSM-5 zeolite catalysts, piperazine and ethylenimine (EI) selectivity increased. With the changing of cesium content in modified H-ZSM-5 zeolite catalysts, 84.1% EI selectivity and 84.1% MEA conversion in MEA dehydration reaction were obtained.