Oxidative Dehydrogenation of Propane over Vanadium-Containing Faujasite Zeolite

Oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) of light alkanes to olefins—in particular, using vanadium-based catalysts—is a promising alternative to the dehydrogenation process. Here, we investigate how the activity of the vanadium phase in ODH is related to its dispersion in porous matrices. An attempt was made to synthesize catalysts in which vanadium was deposited on a microporous faujasite zeolite (FAU) with the hierarchical (desilicated) FAU as supports. These yielded different catalysts with varying amounts and types of vanadium phase and the porosity of the support. The phase composition of the catalysts was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD); low temperature nitrogen sorption experiments resulted in their surface area and pore volumes, and reducibility was measured with a temperature-programmed reduction with a hydrogen (H(2)-TPR) method. The character of vanadium was studied by UV-VIS spectroscopy. The obtained samples were subjected to catalytic tests in the oxidative dehydrogenation of propane in a fixed-bed gas flow reactor with a gas chromatograph to detect subtract and reaction products at a temperature range from 400–500 °C, with varying contact times. The sample containing 6 wt% of vanadium deposited on the desilicated FAU appeared the most active. The activity was ascribed to the presence of the dispersed vanadium ions in the tetragonal coordination environment and support mesoporosity.