The Effect of Porosity and Morphology of Nano γ-Al₂O₃ and Commercial γ-Al₂O₃ Catalysts on the Conversions of Methanol to DME

Abstract

The conversion of methanol to dimethyl ether was carried out over the commercial γ-Al₂O₃ and synthesized nano γ-Al₂O₃ to evaluate their catalytic performances. The synthesized catalyst was characterized by SEM, XRD, and BET. The catalyst has a high surface area and low bulk density, which results in better stability and lower pressure drop because of their pore spongy structures at the same temperature and WHSV (weight hourly space velocity). The results showed that maximum conversion of reaction was observed at a temperature range of 310 to 350°C and WHSV of 15 h⁻¹ with methanol conversion of 80% for commercial catalyst (spherical particles) and 83% for synthesized catalyst (spongy particles).

Keywords:

• dimethyl ether (DME)
• porosity
• bulk density
• morphology
• commercial catalyst
• synthesized γ-Al₂O₃
• fix bed reactor