Exploring the regeneration of mordenite catalyst in dimethyl ether carbonylation reaction

Dimethyl ether carbonylation (DME) to produce methyl acetate (MA) over mordenite catalysts is attracting much attention because of its high selectivity. However, acidic mordenite suffers from a fast deactivation (coking) that has not been properly studied. In the present work, we study the regeneration of the catalyst in several cycles aiming to help the future industrial application of mordenite catalysts in MA production. Both diluted and pure air have been successfully tested for the regeneration of the catalyst. The results show that 1) there is no negative effect after several regeneration cycles and 2) there is a slight improvement of catalyst productivity after the first regeneration cycle. A possible explanation to these results, which is highlighted in this work, is that the catalyst structure is not affected during regeneration while there is an initial migration of Al from the mordenite structure to extra-framework positions.

Keywords: carbonylation, mordenite, regeneration, methyl acetate, bioethanol.