Kinetic modelling of n-butane dehydrogenation over CrO_xVO_x/MCM-41 catalyst in a fixed bed reactor

The kinetics of n-butane dehydrogenation over CrO_xVO_x/MCM-41 catalyst was studied. The models were developed based on the catalyst tests carried out in a packed bed reactor at reaction temperatures varied from 525 to 575 °C under atmospheric pressure. The dehydrogenation of n-butane mainly gives butene isomers (over 90%), 1,3-butadiene and cracked products consisting of methane, ethane, ethene and propene. Based on the experimental observations, power law type models were formulated and parameters were estimated by fitting the experimental data implemented in MATLAB. The activation energy for the formation of butenes (96.2 kJ mol^-1) was found to be considerably less than the activation energy for the formation of the undesirable cracked products (130.4 kJ mol^-1).