Studies on Catalytic Conversion of Chloromethane to Methane and Propane on SiO2/Al2O3: Kinetics of Deactivation Caused by Coking

Chloromethane was catalytically converted into methane and propane in a fixed-bed reactor with
control of pressure and flow rates. The deactivation by coking was studied in a microadsorber
equipped with gravimetric monitoring. In this study, two models were proposed: the first one proposed
that product production competes with coke formation; and the other one proposed that coke
formation competes with product desorption. Kinetic and thermodynamic parameters were estimated.
Results showed that chloromethane was activated by silica-alumina but the products were usually
high molecular weight hydrocarbons, which were broken down by acid sites to produce compounds
like methane and propane.