Deactivation of sulfated zirconia during the isomerization of n-butane: Experiments and kinetic model

A kinetic model for n-butane isomerization over sulfated zirconia catalysts is proposed involving two types of active sites on the catalyst surface and a bi-molecular reaction mechanism. Deactivation kinetics are included in which the two different active sites deactivate at different rates. The proposed model more accurately captures the activity trends observed experimentally with respect to time on stream behavior compared to a single site model with deactivation.