High-yield production of aromatics from methanol using a temperature-shifting multi-stage fluidized bed reactor technology

Abstract We propose a temperature-shifting three-stage fluidized bed reactor technology for the consecutive conversion of methanol and its intermediate products into aromatics. The first stage served the aromatization of methanol. The second stage served the aromatization of the intermediates of light paraffins and olefins. The third stage served the alkylation of residual olefins. The yield of the aromatics was relatively stable within 12 h in the exit of third stage and was 6–12% higher than that in the exit of first stage. The increased yield of aromatics was attributed to the effective transformation of intermediate products (C 2 -C 5 hydrocarbons). The final alkenes/alkanes ratio dropped to only 0.03. The time-dependent yields of aromatics, olefins and paraffins were analyzed in detail based on the information of coke at different stages. The results provide insight into the consecutive conversion network of methanol into aromatics.