Preparation, characterizing, and activity evaluation of ZSM-5 nano catalyst in dehydration of methanol to dimethyl ether

In this study, ZSM-5 nanozeolite was synthesized by hydrothermal method in a Si/Al molar ratio of 125 at a temperature of 170 °C, the aging time of 3 h and the crystallization time of 72 h. The prepared nanocatalyst was characterized by BET, XRD, NH3-TPD, and SEM techniques. The activity of this catalyst was evaluated in the dehydration of methanol to dimethyl ether in a fixed bed reactor at 300 oC, 1 atm and a feed flow rate of 0.55 ml/min of pure methanol. A conversion of about 80% and about 86% yield of DME of were achieved, respectively. The prepared nanocatalyst has a crystal size of 22 nm and a specific surface area of about 398 m2g−1.