Effect of Catalyst Acidity and Reaction Temperature on Hexene Cracking Reaction to Produce Propylene

The effect of acid concentration and reaction temperature on the reaction of 1-hexene cracking to propylene was investigated. The catalysts with different acid concentrations were prepared by the alkali ion and phosphorus modification of ZSM-5 zeolite. It was observed that both decreasing the concentration of strong Brønsted acid sites (SBASs) and increasing reaction temperatures can enhance the selectivity and yield of propylene and hinder the formation of side products including hydrogen, C1∼C5 alkanes, aromatics, and coke. The hydrogen transfer reaction had an important effect on the selectivity of C3∼C5 olefins in the high concentration of SBASs. Besides, high temperatures intensified monomolecular reactions and hindered bimolecular or multimolecular reactions.On the basis of product distributions, possible main and side reaction routes were summarized under the real industrial reaction conditions. The conclusion was significant to optimize the catalyst design of olefin cracking or pyrolysis processes and operation conditions for increasing the yield of propylene.