ZnZrO_(x)-HZSM-5双功能催化剂催化甲苯与合成气烷基化制对二甲苯

Toluene methylation with syngas to para‐xylene by bifunctional ZnZrO_(x)‐HZSM‐5 catalysts

作为重要的有机化工原料,近些年来随着聚酯行业的高速发展,对二甲苯(PX)需求量逐年增高.目前,PX主要通过传统的石油路线生产,例如石脑油催化重整、甲苯歧化和C_(8)芳烃异构化,这些路线的后续精馏能耗较高.甲醇作为碳源与甲苯烷基化制备PX有效提高了目标产物的选择性,且已实现工业化.然而,由于甲醇生成甲氧基烷基化物种的能垒较高,使反应温度较高,促进了甲醇制烯烃(MTO)副反应的进行,降低了甲醇利用率;且由于积炭的形成,催化剂容易失活.合成气是非石油基资源如煤炭、天然气和生物质等利用的重要平台,在转化为醇类、烯烃以及芳烃路径中将经过甲氧基中间体,因此,本文研发以合成气代替甲醇与甲苯烷基化制备PX的催化剂和催化过程.基于本课题组关于CO_(2)加氢耦合甲苯烷基化制PX的研究基础,本文将ZnZrO_(x)(ZZO)与ZSM-5(Z5)混合制得双功能催化剂,用于合成气转化耦合甲苯烷基化制PX.研究结果表明,通过优化催化剂的组成和烷基化反应条件,调控CO加氢反应和甲苯烷基化反应的匹配性,在甲苯转化率为10.3%时,可获得64.8%的二甲苯选择性(不计水煤气变换反应),其中PX占81.8%,气态烃副产物的选择性为10.9%;在相同条件下采用甲醇为烷基化试剂时,二甲苯选择性仅38.5%,其中PX占38.8%,此时气态烃副产物的选择性达26.2%.同位素效应实验结果表明,二甲苯中新增甲基来自于合成气,而非甲苯的歧化反应.催化剂构效研究结果表明,PX的选择性与分子筛孔径、酸性强度以及Brönsted酸性位点有关;原位红外结果也证实了该反应呈现逆同位素效应(k_(H2)/k_(D2)=0.92),表明反应中甲酸盐物种(HCOO*)加氢可能是反应的决速步骤.与传统的甲醇甲苯烷基化路径相比,采用来源广泛和成本较低的合成气与甲苯进行烷基化反应的温度(340℃)更低,有效避免了MTO副反应的发生,同时,该催化剂可在100 h内保持良好稳定性.综上,本工作结果为高效制备高值芳烃PX提供了新思路.

Toluene methylation with methanol on H‐ZSM‐5(Z5)zeolite for the directional transformation of toluene to xylene has been industrialized.However,great challenges remain because of the high energy barrier of methanol deprotonation to the methoxy group,the side reaction of methanol to olefins,coke formation,and the deactivation of zeolites.Herein,we report the toluene methylation coupled with CO hydrogenation to showcase an enhancement in para‐xylene(PX)selectivity by employing a bifunctional catalyst composed of ZnZrO_(x)(ZZO)and modified Z5.The results showed that a PX selectivity of up to 81.8%in xylene and xylene selectivity of 64.8%in hydrocarbons at 10.3%toluene conversion can be realized over the bifunctional catalyst on a fixed‐bed reactor.The selectivity of gaseous hydrocarbons decreased to 10.9%,and approximately half of that was observed in methanol reagent route where the PX selectivity in xylene was 38.8%.We observed that the acid strength,the quantity ratio of Brönsted and Lewis acid sites,and the pore size of zeolites were essential for the PX selectivity.The investigation of the H_(2)/D_(2) kinetic isotope effect revealed that the newborn methyl group in xylene resulted from the hydrogenation of CO rather than toluene disproportionation.Furthermore,the catalyst showed no evident deactivation within the 100 h stability test.The findings offer a promising route for the production of value‐added PX with high selectivity via toluene methylation coupled with syngas conversion.