Comparative Study of Catalysts Based on Zeolites BEA and MWW in Benzene Alkylation with Propylene

The physicochemical properties of catalysts synthesized from zeolites of the BEA and MWW framework types using pseudoboehmite as a binder and their catalytic activity in benzene alkylation with propylene in the gas-phase and liquid-phase modes have been studied. It has been found that the MWW-based catalyst is characterized by stronger acidity in terms of both amount and strength of acid sites; however, the catalytic activity of this sample is inferior to that of zeolite BEA. The observed effect is attributed to the higher accessibility of acid sites in the three-dimensional system of zeolite BEA. With respect to some parameters, such as cumene selectivity and on-stream stability, zeolite MWW is superior to zeolite BEA; the difference is attributed to the structural features of these zeolites.