Process optimization of vapor phase pyridine synthesis using response surface methodology

The vapor phase pyridine synthesis from acetaldehyde, formaldehyde and ammonia over HZSM-5 catalyst was studied. The process parameters like temperature, aldehyde ratio, and Si/Al ratio in HZSM-5 was investigated and the process conditions were optimized using surface response methodology (RSM) based on Box-Behnken design. The influence of process parameters investigated using analysis of variance (ANOVA), to identify the significant parameters. The optimum conditions for high yield of pyridine were identified to be a reaction temperature 400°C, aldehyde ratio 1: 1 and Si/Al ratio 106.7. A maximum of 55% yield of pyridine formed under the optimum experimental conditions. The proposed model equation using RSM has shown good agreement with the experimental data, with a correlation coefficient R ² = 0.99.