Reaction Coupling of Methane Steam Reforming and Methane Dehydroaromatization for Improving Durability of Mo/MCM-49 Catalyst

The durability of methane dehydroaromatization (MDA) has been improved by its combination with methane steam reforming (MSR). The methane conversion in the combined MSR/MDA system decreases very slowly from 11.5% at 12.5 h to 6.5% at 60 h, whereas it decreases rapidly from 14.5% at 0.5 h to 3.5% at 15 h for the MDA reaction alone. CO and H2 produced in-situ through the MSR reaction may reduce the amount of CHx species during the reaction, which in turn reduces the formation of coke deposited on the catalyst, prolonging the durability of the MDA reaction. High content of H2 from the MSR process plays a major role in suppressing coke accumulation on the catalyst, especially the coke associated with the Brönsted acidic sites that are mainly responsible for the deactivation.