| Abstract: | The dehydrocyclization of n-octane and iso-octane to ethyl benzene, and ortho-, para-, and meta-xylenes was investigated on mono- and bifunctional platinum/alumina catalysts in a microcatalytic reactor with hydrogen as carrier at 1.8 atm pressure and between temperatures of 573 and 763 K, using pulse technique. On bifunctional Pt/Al2O3 catalyst, the total conversion of both n-octane and iso-octane was found to start from a high value and decrease with increasing temperature for all pulse volumes investigated. However, iso-octane was found to be more reactive than n-octane. There was only one primary product, namely iso-octane, in the n-octane reaction. As regards the iso-octane reaction, two primary products, ethyl benzene and o-oxylene were identified. For both reactions, these primary products decreased to a minimum as temperatures increased. On monofunctional (non-acidic) Pt/Al2O3, the total conversion of n-octane increased with temperature and passed through a maximum. The primary products of the reaction were ethyl benzene and o-xylene. |
