Influence of impregnation conditions on the activity of CrOx/Al2O3 catalysts in dehydrogenation of isobutane in fixed bed reactor

The development of catalysts for dehydrogenation of light paraffin hydrocarbons in a fixed bed reactor is of great importance for the world petrochemical industry. The preparation of granules (~3 mm in diameter) of CrO_x/Al₂O₃ catalysts is hindered by such problems as homogeneous distribution of active component and modifiers, high strength of granules, etc. In this paper, the alumina support dissolution in the impregnating solution containing chromic acid and the opportunity to apply vacuum impregnation to minimize this effect in the preparation of CrO_x/Al₂O₃ catalysts are discussed. A series of catalysts is synthesized at different impregnation pressures (1, 0.85, and 0.7 atm), characterized by a complex of physical–chemical methods (low-temperature N₂ adsorption, SEM, XRD, TPR-H₂), and tested in isobutane dehydrogenation. The use of vacuum impregnation is shown to lead to the reduction of the specific surface area of the catalysts from to 91 to 56 m²/g and the growth of content of CrO_x phases that decreases the catalytic activity in dehydrogenation. The isobutylene yield at 610 °C decreases from 68% to 54% for the catalyst prepared at P = 0.7 atm as compared with the one prepared at atmospheric pressure. The high activity and stability are connected with the hierarchical structure of the alumina support and homogeneous chromia distribution on its surface.