Deactivation of alkane oxidative dehydrogenation catalyst by deep reduction in periodic flow reactor

The activity loss of β‐NiMoO4 catalyst has been studied in the oxidative dehydrogenation of propane with an operating periodic flow reactor. Under severe operating conditions (i.e., high temperature and long periods of the pulses), the lattice oxygen depletion is faster than the reoxidation one. After an induction period, carbon whiskers on the catalyst surface were detected together with noticeable amounts of cracking products in the gas phase as CH4, C2 hydrocarbons and H2. Deep reduction dramatically changes the reaction path and irreversibly modifies the catalyst.