Insights into the Reaction Mechanism of Ethanol Conversion into Hydrocarbons on H-ZSM-5.

Ethanol dehydration to ethene is mechanistically decoupled from the production of higher hydrocarbons due to complete surface coverage by adsorbed ethanol and diethyl ether (DEE). The production of C3+ hydrocarbons was found to be unaffected by water present in the reaction mixture. Three routes for the production of C3+ hydrocarbons are identified: the dimerization of ethene to butene and two routes involving two different types of surface species categorized as aliphatic and aromatic.