ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

InInvestigating the influence of porosity and reactant diffusion on alkane isomerisation

Abstract: The isomerisation of n-butane is the main route to isobutane, a market valued at $20 billion, due to isobutanes use as a fuel additive, propellant and precursor for tert-butyl hydroperoxide. Zeolite catalysts are suited to this reaction because their micropores offer a confined space to control the reaction pathway and prevent bulky side products forming. However it is important that diffusion through the porous framework is not hindered, as this will lower the reaction conversion. Therefore we propose to contrast the diffusion of n-butane in three different zeotype frameworks with different porosities, but identical active sites. Thus allowing us to focus purely on the diffusion characteristics of the framework, to explain the significant differences in catalytic activity. We will investigate the diffusion of n-butane through the internal pores of CoAlPO-5, CoAlPO-11 and CoAlPO-18.

Principal Investigator: Dr Matthew Potter
Local Contact: Dr Ian Silverwood
Experimenter: Professor Robert Raja
Experimenter: Miss Alice Oakley
Experimenter: Dr Mark Light
Experimenter: Mr Josh Le Brocq
Experimenter: Dr Evangeline McShane
Experimenter: Mr Connor McFarlane
Experimenter: Miss Amy Matthews

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2220191

ISIS Experiment Number: RB2220191

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
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Data Citation

The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher], [doi]

For Example:
Dr Matthew Potter et al; (2024): InInvestigating the influence of porosity and reactant diffusion on alkane isomerisation, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2220191

Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.