Enhanced MTO performance over acid treated hierarchical SAPO-34

Hierarchical SAPO-34 crystals were synthesized by a facile acid etching post-treatment. Butterfly-shaped porous patterns on four side faces and hierarchical pores composed of micropores, mesopores and macropores were formed after a nitric acid or oxalic acid treatment. The catalytic performance of the hierarchical SAPO-34 for the methanol to olefins (MTO) process showed that the synergistic effect of the hierarchical pores and acid sites resulted in a longer catalyst lifetime (from 210 to 390 min for the acid treated SAPO-34) and higher selectivity to light olefins of 92%–94%. The ethylene selectivity can be adjusted between 37.4% and 51.5% by the pore size. No hierarchical SAPO-34 was obtained after a treatment with butanedioic acid, and with this sample, fast deactivation was detected after 100 min.