Reactivation of catalysts for methanol-to-hydrocarbons conversion with hydrogen

Catalyst coking is one of the key challenges in hydrocarbons processing. Herein, we studied potential reacting coke deposits with hydrogen to regenerate methanol–to–hydrocarbons (MTH) performance archetypical ZSM-5 catalysts exhibiting low-to-medium Si/Al atomic ratios (14–39). The reactivation substantially enhanced at elevated pressures (20–30 bar), restoring significant part MTH activity (>85%) and turnover capacity (>30%) 753–823 K. Decoking particularly efficient for aluminum-rich catalyst, removing up 96% attaining comparable conventional combustion. X-ray diffraction, Raman, infrared, nuclear magnetic resonance, photoelectron spectroscopic analyses revealed that eliminates internal external from catalyst low ratio, silicon-richer materials. Hydrogen treatments yield light (e.g., methane ethane) aromatics methylated benzenes) offering thus a route valorizing can be exploited other processes.