Kinetics of Heavy Reformate Conversion to Xylenes over MCM-41 on Zeolite Beta Composite Catalyst

Commercial heavy reformate is converted over MCM-41 on zeolite beta composite catalyst to produce mixed xylenes in a fluidized-bed batch reactor. The heavy reformate feedstock contains 67.4 wt.% trimethyl benzenes (TMBs) and 31.1 wt.% methyl ethyl benzenes (MEBs). The experiments were carried out at 300, 350 and 400 °C, while the reaction times were varied between 5 and 20 s. The conversion of MEBs was more than two times the conversion of TMBs. The selectivity to xylenes was quite high (60–65 wt.%) but changed very little with reaction time or temperature. A kinetic model was developed using a five-reaction network. The product composition obtained from the estimated kinetic parameters closely matches the experimental results, which confirms the validity of the assumptions made for kinetic modeling. The trend in the apparent activation energies of the reactions was in accordance with the relative size of the reactant molecules, and the lowest activation energy was for the transalkylation of TMBs with toluene to produce xylenes.