Catalytic Performance of Fe Modified Zeolite Beta for Synthesis of Xylene

The catalytic performance of metal exchanged zeolite for the synthesis of xylene was determined in the present investigation. The experiments were carried out for alkylation of toluene with methanol over Fe modified zeolite beta for the production of xylene in a plug flow reactor. Modification of zeolite beta with Fe brings significant increase in the activity of catalyst and selectivity of the product xylene. A time on stream study showed that the catalyst was quite stable at an operating temperature of about 380oC . A maximum of 95% methanol conversion was obtained at 380oC. The selectivity of para-xylene goes on increasing and reaches its maximum (57%) at 420oC. The experimental runs were taken to optimize the different parameters like temperature, reactant mole ratio, space time. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, SEM. Keywords: Fe, zeolite beta, xylene, transalkylation, toluene