Remarkable Promotion of Benzene Formation in Methane Aromatization with Ethane Addition.

The dehydroaromatization of methane over Mo/HZSM-5 catalyst was investigated at 3 atm and 725 °C. The rate of benzene formation was significantly enhanced with the addition of a few percent of ethane. A higher formation rate of benzene at 1930 nmol C/g-cat/s was obtained for a CH4 + 6.3% C2H6 co-feed system. XRD results showed that the zeolite framework was intact after the reaction in different feeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]