Physicochemical Properties and Catalytic Performances of Nanostructured V 2O5 over TiO2 and γ-Al2O3 for Oxidative Dehydrogenation of Propane

M. Kazemeini, M. Nikkhah, M. Fattahi and L. Vafajoo

Abstract
Samples of V2O5 catalysts supported on nanostructures of TiO2 and γ-Al2O3 were synthesized through the hydrothermal method and used for the oxidative dehydrogenation of propane (ODHP) to propylene. The TiO2 support was utilized in both commercial microstructure and synthesized nanostructure forms. Moreover, the γ-Al2O3 support was synthesized through chemical and precipitation methods. The vanadium catalyst was then deposited onto the hybrid of the TiO2 and γ-Al2O3 materials. All prepared catalysts were characterized through the BET, FESEM, FTIR, XRD and TPR techniques. Performances of the synthesized catalysts were subsequently examined in a fixed-bed reactor. The main products were propylene, ethylene and COx. The prepared catalysts over TiO2 and γ-Al2O3 were evaluated under reactor test conditions of 500 °C, feed of C3H8/air with molar ratio of 0.6, and total feed flow rate of 90 mL min–1. These resulted in optimum values of 35.53 and 23.88 % for the propylene selectivity and propane conversion, respectively 6 h after the start of the reaction. The comparison of performances made between the synthesized materials and those available in the open literature for the ODHP reaction was indeed satisfactory.

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Keywords
oxidative dehydrogenation, nanostructure, V2O5, hydrothermal method, TiO2/Al2O3