Light-Alkane Oxidative Dehydrogenation to Light Olefins over Platinum-Based SAPO-34 Zeolite-Supported Catalyst

The experiments were conducted to study Pt–Sn/SAPO-34 catalyst utilization for oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) of light paraffins to olefins. In recent times, the interesting concept of similar catalytic bed usage for direct dehydrogenation (PDH) and ODH has gotten attention. The light-paraffin ODH process was enhanced over the Pt–Sn-based catalyst using SAPO-34 as a support. The catalyst demonstrated promising results for propane and butane dehydrogenation, where the initial feed conversion is about 70 wt % at optimum operating conditions of 2:1 feed/oxygen ratio and 550 °C because of lower carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide (CO x ) formation. A negligible amount of coke formation and a slower deactivation rate was noticed over the proposed catalyst in comparison with the PDH reaction and other ODH processes. Propylene and butene selectivities were obtained above 96 and 90 wt %, respectively. This superior light-olefin selectivity in the ODH reaction was due to superior catalytic control of reaction by providing suitable hydrogen-abstraction platinum sites and intermediate product conversion over SAPO-34. The catalyst performance was analyzed by comparing experimental justification with characterization like X-ray fluorescence, surface area, dioxygen-pulse coke analysis, dihydrogen chemisorption, and transmission electron microscopy.