Conversion of methanol to propylene over SAPO-14: Reaction mechanism and deactivation

Methanol to olefins (MTO) reaction as an important non-oil route to produce light olefins has been industrialized, and received over 80% ethylene plus propylene selectivity. However, to achieve high single ethylene or propylene selectivity towards the fluctuated market demand is still full of challenge. Small-pore SAPO-14 molecular sieve is a rare MTO catalyst exhibiting extra-high propylene selectivity. It provides us a valuable clue for further understanding of the relationship between molecular sieve structure and MTO catalytic performance. In this work, a seconds-level sampling fixed-bed reactor was used to capture real-time product distributions, which help to achieve more selectivity data in response to very short catalytic life of SAPO-14. Changes in product distribution, especially during the low activity stage, reflect valuable information on the reaction pathway. Combined with in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier-transform spectroscopy, in situ ultraviolet Raman measurements and 12C/13C isotopic switch experiments, a reaction pathway evolution from dual cycle to olefins-based cycle dominant was revealed. In addition, the deactivation behaviors of SAPO-14 were also investigated, which revealed that polymethylbenzenes have been the deactivated species in such a situation. This work provides helpful hints on the development of characteristic methanol to propylene (MTP) catalysts.