Synthesis of nanocrystalline γ-Al2O3 by sol-gel and precipitation methods for methanol dehydration to dimethyl ether

The capability of sol-gel and conventional precipitation techniques for the synthesis of nanocrystalline γ-alumina was investigated. These catalysts were used for vapor-phase dehydration of methanol to dimethyl ether in a fixed-bed reactor under the same operating conditions (T = 300°C, P = 1 bar, LHSV = 2.8, 11.7, 26.1 h−1) and characterized by means of N2 adsorption-desorption, NH3-TPD, XRD, TGA and SEM techniques. According to the experimental results, the catalysts prepared using sol-gel method in non-aqueous medium showed better performance compared with those prepared by other methods.