The Hydrocarbon Pool in AlcoholtoGasoline over HZSM5 Catalysts

1
The Hydrocarbon Pool in Alcohol-to-Gasoline over
HZSM-5 Catalysts
Sarah Hruby Department of Chemical and Biological
Engineering Iowa State University
Research Goal Examine the role of the
hydrocarbon pool in the ethanol-to-gasoline
process using HZSM-5 Payoff Determine how
addition of ethanol to a methanol-to-gasoline
reaction affects the process
Figure 1 Retained material in the ETG and MTG
processes

• Results
• ETG zeolites contained mixed ethyl/methyl
  benzenes not present in MTG
• EtOH feed produced same product distribution in
  liquid and gas samples
• Zeolites from EtOH/MeOH mixtures did not contain
  the mixed ethyl/methyl benzenes seen with EtOH
  alone
• Other alcohols currently under investigation

Approach Feed mixtures of alcohols and water
through a continuous flow fixed bed stainless
steel reactor. Dissolve the zeolites in HF to
determine the composition of the material
retained in the pores. Evaluate catalyst
deactivation behavior.