Dehydrogenation of Methane over Mo/ZSM-5. Effects of Additives in the Methane Stream

The dehydrogenation of methane was carried out over a Mo/ZSM-5 catalyst. It was revealed that the purity of the methane was very critical for the evaluation of the catalyst activity. In order to study the phenomenon, the effects of the addition of O₂, CO₂, CO or H₂ to the feed were investigated. A small amount of O₂ increased the amounts of aromatic compounds and CO produced. The addition of H₂ scarcely affected the conversion of methane, but it prevented the deactivation of the catalyst, i.e., benzene production remained constant during a 6 h test.