Obtaining Porous Ceramic Silicon Carbide-Based Converters for Dehydrogenation of Ethylbenzene into Styrene.

A porous, catalytically active converter was synthesized based on coarse SiC. For the synthesis of the converter, ultrafine additives of the eutectic composition MgO and SiC were introduced into the original SiC powder. The resulting mixture was pressed at the maximum pressure from 75 to 125 MPa, followed by sintering in the range from 1200 to 1450°C. The open porosity of the converters was ~40%, the size of the pores ranged from 4 to 6 μm. At 600°C, ethylbenzene conversion was ~73%, styrene yield ~9%, selectivity of styrene ~12.3%. The degree of carbonization of the catalyst after 2.5 h did not exceed ~0.003 wt.%, which is an ultra-low indicator that radically increases the life of a catalytic converter without the need for regeneration or replacement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]