Hamed Rashidi - Department of Gas Engineering, Petroleum University of Technology, Ahwaz, Iran
Touba Hamoule - Department of Gas Engineering, Petroleum University of Technology, Ahwaz, Iran
Mohammad Reza Khosravi Nikou - Department of Gas Engineering, Petroleum University of Technology, Ahwaz, Iran
Ahmad Shariati - Department of Gas Engineering, Petroleum University of Technology, Ahwaz, Iran

MSU-S mesoporous catalyst with [SiO2]/[Al2O3] ratio of 55 was synthesized usingtetrapropylammonium hydroxide (TPAOH) as a structure directing agent andhexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as a surfactant. The catalytic activity of the calcinedsample was evaluated for the dehydration of methanol to dimethyl ether (DME) in a vertical fixed bedmicroreactor at a weight hurly space velocity (WHSV) of 5 hr-1 .Temperature ranged from 230 °C to380 °C and pressure was kept constant at 1 bar. The catalyst was characterized by XRD;consequently, the mesoporous structure of MSU-S catalyst was verified. The activity, selectivity, andstability of MSU-S catalyst were investigated in a vertical fixed bed reactor. An increase in methanolconversion was observed by increasing temperature. The equilibrium conversion of methanol wasalmost reached at 380 °C and selectivity decreased from 100% to 97% as temperature rose from 200°C to 380 °C. The stability of MSU-S (Michigan State University) catalyst was investigated for 12 hrat 380 °C and a stable methanol conversion was observed during the mentioned time.

MSU-S, DME Synthesis, Mesoporous Material