Title: Dehydration of Methanol to Dimethyl Ether over ZSM-5 Zeolite
Abstract: Methanol dehydration to dimethyl ether (DME) has been investigated over ZSM-5 zeolites and compared with that of <TEX>${\gamma}-Al_2O_3$</TEX>. Although the catalytic activity was decreased with an increase in silica/alumina ratio, the DME selectivity increased. H-ZSM-5 and NaH-ZSM-5 zeolites were more active for conversion of methanol to DME than <TEX>${\gamma}-Al_2O_3$</TEX>. <TEX>$Na^+$</TEX> ion-exchanged H-ZSM-5 (NaH-ZSM-5) shows higher DME selectivity than H-ZSM-5 due to the selective removal of strong acid sites.