Coke combustion and reactivation kinetics of a ZSM-5 zeolite based catalyst used for the transformation of methanol into hydrocarbons

The effect of the operating conditions and aging of a catalyst deactivated in the MTG process on its regeneration by coke combustion is studied. Due to the nature of the coke, an equilibration treatment (sweeping with N-2 at 550 degrees C for 0.5 h) prior to its combustion must be carried out in order for this to be reproducible and independent of the operating conditions. The combustion kinetics has been studied by experiments in a differential scanning calorimeter and following the gaseous products (CO,CO2 and H2O) by FTIR analysis. The kinetics of catalyst reactivation is determined by experiments in a fluidized bed reactor.