Synthesis of hierarchical Fe₂O₃/ZSM-5 from natural minerals as catalyst in partial oxidation of bio-methane

Partial oxidation reaction of bio-methane as a source of methane using ZSM-5 heterogeneous catalyst modified with iron oxide has been carried out. In this study, the ZSM-5 catalyst was synthesized using the double template method using kaolin and natural zeolite as silicate and aluminate sources. The as-synthesized ZSM-5 nat and the Fe2O3/ZSM-5 nat catalysts were analyzed using XRD, XRF and BET. The characterization reveals that the synthesis of ZSM-5 was successful and the amount of iron(III) loaded was 2.98 %. The application test of Fe2O3/ZSM-5 nat as a catalyst was carried out in stainless steel batch reactor with a certain CH4:N2 feed ratio at 150 C for 120 min. The reaction products were then analyzed with GC-FID to measure the % yield of methanol product. It is found that Fe2O3/ZSM-5 nat catalyst could give 54.93 % yield of methanol. Although the use of bio-methane as feed with lower CH4 : N2 ratio, this catalyst was also active and produced 12.26 % yield of methanol.