Aromatization of Cyclopentane Over ZSM-5 Catalysts: A Proposal of Reaction Pathway

Abstract

The conversion of cyclopentane over HZSM-5 and GaZSM-5 was studied at 500–600°C in a fixed bed flow reactor. The reaction over HZSM-5 showed that cyclopentane was first cracked to liquified petroleum gas (LPG) that consecutively aromatized to BTX and C₉₊ aromatics. While over GaZSM-5, cyclopentane preferred to oligomerize to larger intermediate namely cyclic hydrocarbon pool that could be converted to C₉₊ aromatics and then cracked to benzene toluene and xylene and LPG. The higher activity was obtained by lowering Si/Al ratio of the parent HZSM-5 and increasing reaction temperature.