Dehydrogenation-hydrogenation of methylcyclohexane-toluene system on 1.0 wt% Pt/zeolite beta catalyst

The dehydrogenation of methylcyclohexane is a reversible reaction where methylcyclohexane is dehydrogenated to toluene and hydrogen in the forward reaction while the hydrogenation of toluene occurs is the reverse reaction. In the present work, both the forward and the reverse reactions were studied over the same catalyst: 1.0 wt% Pt/zeolite beta. The catalyst was prepared using the ion exchange method and it was characterised using ICP-OES, XRD, SEM, XPS, N2-BET, and NH3-TPD. The catalytic reactions were studied in a 1.02 cm internal diameter fixed bed tubular reactor under integral conditions and the effect of reaction operating conditions were studied on both the forward and reverse reactions. The kinetic modelling of the overall reactions, as well as of the by-products formed in the forward reaction, was carried out using simple power law models.