Abstract The SAPO-34 catalyst used for converting methanol to olefins (MTO) would be suffering deactivation by coking. In order to perform the rational design of MTO reactor, it is important to understand the intrinsic kinetics as well as the physics of catalyst deactivation. Experiments on MTO reaction in a fixed-bed isothermal integral reactor were carried out to study the deactivation of SAPO-34 catalyst. At different reaction time, the concentration of reactants and products were measured on stream, and catalytic activities were then determined. A kinetic model based on five-reaction deactivation mechanism was proposed, in which the influence of water and coke deposition was incorporated. The kinetic constants of deactivation reactions were obtained by regression of experimental data. A very good agreement between the model predictions and experimental data in terms of on-stream product concentration has been reached, which indicates that the kinetic model is reliable.
