Comparison of methanol to gasoline conversion in one-step, two-step, and cascade mode in the presence of H-ZSM-5 zeolite

ABSTRACT

In this report, three technological modes for methanol-to-gasoline reaction in the presence of H-ZSM-5 catalyst are compared: (i) direct methanol transformation to hydrocarbons; (ii) two-step (methanol-dimethyl ether-hydrocarbons); and (iii) cascade pathway. Light hydrocarbon gases (methane, ethylene, propylene, and isobutene) and liquid aromatic hydrocarbons (benzene, toluene, xylene, cresol, durol, naphthalene, methylnaphthalene, ethyl naphthalene, isopropyl naphthalene, methyl isopropyl naphthalene, etc.) were found to be the main reaction products. The experimental results showed that the classical two-step methanol to gasoline (MTG) process nowadays remains the most effective for gasoline-range hydrocarbons production, while one-step and cascade schemes require further investigation and the development of reactor systems as well as the operating conditions. The product distribution of MTG synthesis after 120 h on stream in the case of two-step mode was found to be the following: liquid C₆–C₈ hydrocarbons – 23%; C₁–C₅ gaseous products – 65%; heavy C₉–C₁₂ hydrocarbons – 10%.

KEYWORDS:

• Methanol-to-gasoline process
• H-ZSM-5
• technological scheme
• C5+ hydrocarbons

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Antonina A. Stepacheva http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9366-5201

Mikhail G. Sulman http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7980-800X

Esther M. Sulman http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6543-617X

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Education of the Russian Federation [grant number RFMEFI58615X0024].