# Patent

## Title
SAPO-34 zeolite having diglycolamine as templating agent and synthesis method for the zeolite

## Abstract

The present invention provides a SAPO-34 molecular sieve, whose chemical composition in the anhydrous state is expressed as: mDGA.(SixAlyPz)O2; wherein DGA is diglycolamine, distributing in the cages and pores of said molecular sieve; m is the molar number of the template agent diglycolamine per one mole of (SixAlyPz)O2, and m is from 0.03 to 0.25; x, y, z respectively represents the molar number of Si, Al, P, and x is from 0.01 to 0.30, and y is from 0.40 to 0.60, and z is from 0.25 to 0.49, and x+y+z=1. Said SAPO-34 molecular sieve can be used as an acid-catalyzed reaction catalyst, such as a methanol to olefins reaction catalyst. The present invention also concerns the application of said SAPO-34 molecular sieve in adsorption separation of CH4 and CO2.

## Background
This is a National Phase Application filed under 35 U.S.C. 371 as a national stage of PCT/CN2012/086280, filed Dec. 10, 2012, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention belongs to the field of SAPO molecular sieve, and specifically concerns a SAPO-34 molecular sieve and method for preparing the same.
BACKGROUND
The Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) researched and developed a series of novel silicoaluminophosphate molecular sieves SAPO-n in 1984 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,440,871 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,499,327), which were prepared by using organic amines as a template agent and using hydrated alumina, phosphoric acid and silica sol as an aluminum source, a silicon source and a phosphorus source, respectively. Firstly, a complex of organic amine/silicoaluminophosphate with microporous structure was obtained by a hydrothermal crystallization method, and then the template agent (organic amine) was removed by calcination to obtain the SAPO-n molecular sieves. Among this kind of molecular sieves, SAPO-34 with CHA-type framework has shown an excellent catalytic activity and selectivity in methanol to olefins (MTO) process, due to its proper pore structure, proper Brønsted acid property, higher specific surface area, preferable adsorption performance, high thermal stability, high hydrothermal stability and the like.
SAPO-34 is a molecular sieve with chabazite-type (CHA) framework containing 8-member ring ellipsoidal cage and 3-dimensional channel, which is formed by stacking of double six-rings according to ABC sequence. SAPO-34 is microporous molecular sieve with a pore size of 0.38×0.38 nm. Space group of SAPO-34 is R3m belonging to trigonal crystal system (J. Phys. Chem., 1990, 94: 2730). SAPO-34 is formed by Si, Al, P and O whose composition change at some range, generally in the order of n(Si)<n(P)<n(Al).
SAPO-34 molecular sieve is generally produced by a hydrothermal synthesis process which uses water as the solvent and is conducted in a sealed autoclave. The silicon source may be chosen from silica sol, active silica and orthosilicate esters. The aluminum source may be chosen from active alumina, pseudo boehmite and alkoxy aluminum. Preferable silicon source and aluminum source are silica sol and pseudo boehmite. Phosphorus source is generally 85% phosphoric acid. The template agent commonly used comprises tetraethyl ammonium hydroxide (TEAOH), morpholine (MOR), piperidine, isopropylamine triethylamine diethylamine (TEA), dipropylamine (DEA), and the like, or a mixture thereof. The structural-directing agent partly affects the microstructure, elemental composition, morphology of synthesized molecular sieve, thus producing an impact on the catalytic performance of synthesized molecular sieve.
In the present invention, diglycolamine firstly is used as structure-directing agent for the hydrothermal synthesis of pure SAPO-34 molecular sieve. The synthetic SAPO-34 molecular sieve has shown an excellent catalytic performance in catalytic reaction and a good gas absorption separation performance.
DISCLOSURE
An object of the present invention is to provide a SAPO-34 molecular sieve, whose chemical composition in the anhydrous state is expressed as: mDGA.(SixAlyPz)O2: wherein DGA is diglycolamine, distributing in the cages and pores of said molecular sieve; in is the molar number of diglycolamine per one mole of (SixAlyPz)O2, and m is from 0.03 to 0.25: x, y, z respectively represents the molar number of Si, Al, P, and x is from 0.01 to 0.30, and y is from 0.40 to 0.60, and z is from 0.25 to the molar number of Si, Al, P, and x is from 0.01 to 0.30, and v is from 0.40 to 0.60, and z is from 0.25 to 0.49, and x+y+z=1. Preferably, x is from 0.07 to 0.26, and v is from 0.42 to 0.52, and z is from 0.28 to 0.45, and x+y+z=−1. The diffraction peaks are shown in Table 2, according to the X-ray diffraction analysis or said SAPO-34 molecular sieve. The X-ray diffraction analysis result of said SAPO-34 molecular sieve at least includes the diffraction peaks as the following table:












No.
20
d(Å)

















1
9.4445
9.36452


2
15.942
5.55943


3
17.7583
4.99471


4
22.9708
3.87175


5
29.428
3.03525









Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for preparing SAPO-34 molecular sieve.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a SAPO-34 molecular sieve prepared using the above method and catalysts prepared from the same for acid-catalyzed reaction or oxygenates to olefins reaction.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a material used for adsorption separation of CH2/CO2.
The technical problem to be solved in the present invention is that the SAPO-34 molecular sieve is prepared in high purity under hydrothermal or solvothermal conditions, using diglycolamine as the structure-directing agent and using the phosphorus source, the silicon source and the aluminum source employed in usual molecular sieve synthesis as raw materials.
The present invention is characterized in including the preparation steps as follows:
(a) deionized water, a silicon source, an aluminum source, a phosphorus source and DGA are mixed according to a certain ratio, and an initial gel mixture with following molar ratio is obtained:
SiO2/Al2O3 is from 0.05 to 2.5:
P2O5/Al2O3 is from 0.5 to 1.5:
H2O/Al2O3 is from 5 to 200:
DGA/Al2O3 is from 2.5 to 30, DGA is diglycolamine:
(b) the initial gel mixture obtained in said step (a) is transferred into an autoclave, then sealed and heated to crystallization temperature range from 150° C. to 220° C., crystallized for crystallization time range from 5 h to 72 h under the autogenous pressure:

(c) after finishing the crystallization, the solid product is separated, washed to neutral using deionized water and dried to obtain said SAPO-34 molecular sieve.

In said step (a), the silicon source is one or more selected from silica sol, active silica, orthosilicate esters and metakaolin: the aluminum source is one or more selected from aluminum salts, activated alumina, aluminum alkoxide and metakaolin: the phosphorus source is one or more selected from phosphoric acid, diammonium hydrogen phosphate, ammonium dihydrogen phosphate, organophosphorous compounds and phosphorus oxides.
In said step (b), the crystallization is carried out statically or dynamically.
In the initial gel mixture obtained in said step (a), the molar ratio of SiO2/Al2O3 is preferable from 0.15 to 2.0.
In the initial gel mixture obtained in said step (a), the molar ratio of P2O5/Al2O3 is preferable from 0.8 to 1.5.
In the initial gel mixture obtained in said step (a), the molar ratio of H2O/Al2O3 is preferable from 10 to 150.
In the initial gel mixture obtained in said step (a), the molar ratio of DGA/Al2O3 is preferable from 5.5 to 16.
The present invention also refers to a catalyst for acid-catalyzed reaction, which is obtained by calcining at least one of said SAPO-34 molecular sieves or at least one of the SAPO-34 molecular sieves prepared by said methods, at a temperature from 400 to 700° C. in air.
The present invention also refers to a catalyst for oxygenates to olefins reaction, which is obtained by calcining at least one of said SAPO-34 molecular sieves or at least one of the SAPO-34 molecular sieves prepared by said methods, at a temperature from 400 to 700° C. in air.
The present invention also refers to a material used for adsorption separation of CH4/CO2, which is obtained by calcining, at least one of said SAPO-34 molecular sieves or at least one of the SAPO-34 molecular sieves prepared by said methods, at a temperature from 400 to 700° C. in air.
The present invention can bring the advantages including:
(1) obtaining a SAPO-34 molecular sieve using diglycolamine as the template agent.
(2) the SAPO-34 molecular prepared by said method in present invention having excellent catalytic performance in the reaction of converting methanol or dimethyl ether to light olefins.
(3) the SAPO-34 molecular prepared by said method in present invention having excellent adsorption separation selectivity of CH4 and CO2.



BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a scanning electron microscope image of the sample prepared in Example 1 (SEM).



SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
The elemental analysis was determined using Magix 2424 X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (XRF) produced by Philips.
The X-ray powder diffraction analysis (XRD) was determined using X'Pert PRO X-ray diffractometer produced by PANalytical, with Cu Kα radiation (λ=0.15418 nm), operated at 40 KV and 100 mA.
The SEM morphology analysis was determined using KYKY-AMRAY-1000B scanning electron microscope produced by Scientific Instruments Factory of Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance analysis (13C MAS NMR) was determined using Infinity plus 400WB Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer produced by Varian, with a BBO MAS probe operating at a magnetic field strength of 9.4 T.
CHN elemental analysis was determined using German Vario EL Cube elemental analyzer.
The present invention will be described in details by Examples, but the present invention is not limited to these Examples.
Examples 1
The amount of ingredients, the crystallization condition and the sample elemental composition are shown in Table 1. The synthesis process was as follows: 14 g of pseudoboehmite (with Al2O3 mass percent of 72.5%) and 79.2 g of deionized water were mixed homogeneously, and then 5.96 g of silica sol (with SiO2 mass percent of 30.24%) was added and stirred to smooth, and then 23.06 g of phosphoric acid (with H3PO4 mass percent of 85%) was added by droplets. 31.5 g dialycolamine (abbreviated as DGA, with mass percent of 99%) were added into the mixture, stirring to smooth to obtain the initial gel mixture. The initial gel mixture was transferred into a stainless steel autoclave. The molar ratio of the compositions in the initial gel mixture was 3.0DGA:0.30SiO2:1Al2O3:1P2O5:50H2O.
The autoclave was put into a stove and temperature programmed heated to 200° C. dynamically crystallized for 48 h. After finishing the crystallization, the solid product was centrifugal separated, washed and dried at 100° C. in air to obtain the raw powder sample. The raw powder sample was detected with XRD and XRD data were shown in Table 2, indicating that the raw powder sample prepared had the structural characteristics as same as SAPO-34 molecular sieve.
The CHN elemental analysis of the raw powder sample obtained in Example 1 was detected, and the chemical compositions of the racy powder sample were obtained by normalization of the CHN elemental analysis results and the inorganic elemental analysis results detected by XRF.







TABLE 1







The list of amount of ingredients and crystallization conditions of the molecular sieves*











Aluminum
Phosphorus
Silicon













source and
source and
source and
Crystal-

















Molar
molar amount
molar amount
molar amount

lization
Crystal-




amount
of Al2O3
of P2O5
of SiO2

Temper-
lization
Chemical


Example
of DGA
thereof
thereof
thereof
H2O
ature
Time
Composition




















1
0.3
mol
pseudoboehmite
phosphoric
silica sol
5.0
mol
200° C.
48 h
0.19DGA•





0.10 mol
acid
0.03 mol




(Si0.13Al0.49P0.38)O2






0.10 mol


2
0.59
mol
aluminium
phosphoric
silica sol
1.6
mol
180° C.
48 h
0.12DGA•





isopropoxide
acid
0.005 mol




(Si0.01Al0.50P0.49)O2





0.1 mol
0.10 mol


3
0.25
mol
aluminium
phosphoric
silica sol
0.5
mol
200° C.
24 h
0.10DGA•





isopropoxide
acid
0.15 mol




(Si0.30Al0.45P0.25)O2





0.1 mol
0.10 mol


4
0.38
mol
γ-alumina
phosphoric
silica sol
8.3
mol
200° C.
24 h
0.08DGA•





0.1 mol
acid
0.10 mol




(Si0.25Al0.41P0.34)O2






0.10 mol


5
0.5
mol
aluminum
phosphoric
active silica
2.6
mol
190° C.
48 h
0.25DGA•





sulfate
acid
0.25 mol




(Si0.28Al0.46P0.26)O2





0.1 mol
0.05 mol


6
0.3
mol
aluminium
phosphoric
ethyl
1.2
mol
200° C.
24 h
0.22DGA•





chloride
acid
orthosilicate




(Si0.20Al0.35P0.45)O2





0.1 mol
0.15 mol
0.08 mol


7
1.0
mol
pseudoboehmite
phosphoric
silica sol
5.1
mol
200° C.
24 h
0.21DGA•





0.1 mol
acid
0.04 mol




(Si0.10Al0.49P0.41)O2






0.09 mol


8
0.8
mol
aluminium
phosphoric
silica sol
10
mol
200° C.
24 h
0.17DGA•





isopropoxide
acid
0.01 mol




(Si0.06Al0.60P0.34)O2





0.1 mol
0.15 mol


9
0.26
mol
pseudoboehmite
ammonium
silica sol
6. 6
mol
220° C.
 5 h
0.16DGA•





0.1 mol
dihydrogen
0.06 mol




(Si0.14Al0.47P0.39)O2






phosphate






0.10 mol


10
1.5
mol
pseudoboehmite
diammonium
active silica
2.2
mol
200° C.
24 h
0.18DGA•





0.1 mol
hydrogen
0.06 mol




(Si0.11Al0.49P0.40)O2






phosphate






0.10 mol


11
2.0
mol
aluminum
diammonium
silica sol
8.8
mol
200° C.
18 h
0.15DGA•





sulfate
hydrogen
0.07 mol




(Si0.16Al0.47P0.37)O2





0.1 mol
phosphate






0.15 mol


12
0.3
mol
pseudoboehmite
diammonium
silica sol
6.5
mol
180° C.
24 h
0.12DGA•





0.1 mol
hydrogen
0.12 mol




(Si0.25Al0.40P0.35)O2






phosphate






0.12 mol


13
0.4
mol
pseudoboehmite
phosphoric
active silica
12
mol
210° C.
18 h
0.19DGA•





0.1 mol
anhydride
0.03 mol




(Si0.15Al0.49P0.36)O2






0.13 mol


14
0.39
mol
pseudoboehmite
phosphoric
silica sol
4.5
mol
190° C.
12 h
0.19DGA•





0.1 mol
acid
0.03 mol




(Si0.15Al0.49P0.36)O2






0.10 mol


15
0.39
mol
aluminium
phosphoric
tetramethyl
6.5
mol
150° C.
72 h
0.22DGA•





isopropoxide
acid
orthosilicate




(Si0.15Al0.46P0.39)O2





0.1 mol
0.10 mol
0.03 mol


16
0.30
mol
pseudoboehmite
trimethyl
silica sol
6.5
mol
210° C.
15 h
0.17DGA•





0.1 mol
phosphine
0.03 mol




(Si0.13Al0.48P0.37)O2






0.10 mol


17
0.35
mol
pseudoboehmite
triethyl
silica sol
6.5
mol
170° C.
60 h
0.19DGA•





0.1 mol
phosphine
0.03 mol




(Si0.13Al0.48P0.39)O2






0.10 mol


18
0.8
mol
pseudoboehmite
phosphoric
silica sol
3.0
mol
200° C.
24 h
0.20DGA•





0.1 mol
acid
0.20 mol




(Si0.26Al0.44P0.30)O2






0.10 mol


19
3.00
mol
pseudoboehmite
phosphoric
silica sol
20
mol
200° C.
24 h
0.21DGA•





0.1 mol
acid
0.03 mol




(Si0.15Al0.50P0.35)O2






0.10 mol
















TABLE 2







XRD result of the sample obtained in Example 1












No.
20
d(Å)
100 × I/I°















1
9.4445
9.36452
66.76



2
12.7935
6.91968
15.26



3
13.9312
6.35701
6.2



4
15.942
5.55943
43.18



5
17.7583
4.99471
21.85



6
18.9695
4.67843
2.26



7
20.5083
4.33075
100



8
20.9495
4.24053
4.27



9
21.9655
4.04662
16.19



10
22.2848
3.98936
8.18



11
24.9225
3.57281
70.93



12
25.7931
3.45415
22.85



13
27.5092
3.24245
6.1



14
28.1221
3.17316
4.82



15
29.428
3.03525
3.39



16
30.4672
2.93405
42.98



17
31.0098
2.88394
25.27



18
32.2329
2.77725
1.71



19
33.4612
2.67805
4.49



20
34.3373
2.61171
7.7



21
35.9729
2.49663
6.8



22
39.5319
2.27967
3.7



23
43.2766
2.0907
3.73



24
47.4623
1.91563
4.54



25
49.3238
1.84761
2.58



26
50.6098
1.80364
6.32



27
53.0197
1.7272
4.94



28
55.2438
1.66281
2.49



29
58.1695
1.58595
0.83



30
59.3794
1.5565
1.83









Examples 2 to 19
The amount of ingredients and the crystallization conditions were shown in Table 1, and the synthesis processes were the same as Example 1.
The samples were detected with XRD. XRD data of samples were similar to Table 2, which showed that each corresponding peak had the same peak position and the ±10% difference of peak intensity, indicating the samples prepared had the structural characteristics as same as SAPO-34 molecular sieve.
The elemental analysis results of the samples were shown in Table 1.
The raw powder samples obtained in Examples 1 to 10 were detected with 13C MAS NMR analysis respectively, comparing the results with the 13C MAS NMR standard spectrum of diglycolamine, only the resonance peak of diglycolamine was observed.
Example 20
The sample obtained in Example 1 was calcined at 550° C. for 4 hours in air, then pressed, crushed and sieved to 20-40 mesh. 5.0 g of the sample was added into a batch reactor loaded 30 mL of ethanol to carry out an ethanol dehydration reaction evaluation. The reaction was carried out at 150° C. under stirring. The result showed that ethanol conversion reached 92% and the selectivity for ether in products was 92%.
Example 21
The sample obtained in Example 1 was calcined at 550° C. for 4 hours in air, then pressed, crushed and sieved to 20-40 mesh. 1.0 g, of the sample was weighted and loaded into a fixed bed reactor to carry out a methanol to olefins reaction evaluation. The sample was activated at 550° C. for 1 hour in nitrogen gas and reduced to 450° C. to perform a reaction. Methanol was carried by nitrogen gas with a flow rate of 40 ml/min and the Weight Hour Space Velocity of the methanol was 4.0 h−. The reaction products were analyzed by an on-line gas chromatograph (Varian3800. HD detector, capillary column was PoraPLOT Q-HT). The result was shown in Table 3.







TABLE 3







The reaction result of methanol to olefins on the sample










Life
Selective (mass %) *
















Sample
(min)
CH4
C2H4
C2H6
C3H6
C3H8
C4+
C5+
C2H4 + C3H6





Example 1
126
1.38
43.14
0.55
37.60
1.03
12.17
4.13
80.74









Example 22
The sample obtained in Example 10 was calcined at 550° C. for 4 hours in air. The adsorption isotherms or CO2 and CH4 were detected using Micrometrics ASAP 2020. Before being detected, the sample was degassed at 350° C. for 4 hour under vacuum conditions. The adsorption isotherms were detected at the temperature or 25° C. and the pressure or 101 kpa.







TABLE 4







The adsorption separation result of CO2/CH4 on the sample










Adsorption Capacity (mmol/g)













Sample
CO2
CH4
CO2/CH4






Example 10
3.82
0.20
19.1

## Claims

1. A SAPO-34 molecular sieve whose chemical composition in the anhydrous state is expressed as:


mDGA.(SixAlyPz)O2;

wherein,
DGA is diglycolamine; m is the molar number of diglycolamine per one mole of (SixAlyPz)O2, and m is from 0.03 to 0.25;
x, y, z respectively represents the molar number of Si, Al, P, and x is from 0.01 to 0.30, and y is from 0.40 to 0.60, and z is from 0.25 to 0.49, and x+y+z=1.

2. A SAPO-34 molecular sieve according to claim 1, wherein the X-ray diffraction spectrogram of said SAPO-34 molecular sieve includes the diffraction peaks at following peak positions:













No.
2θ








1
 9.4445



2
15.942



3
 17.7583



4
 22.9708



5
 29.428.

3. A method for preparing said SAPO-34 molecular sieve according to claim 1, including the steps as follows:
(a) deionized water, a silicon source, an aluminum source, a phosphorus source and DGA are mixed according to a certain ratio, and an initial gel mixture with following molar ratio is obtained:
SiO2/Al2O3 is from 0.05 to 2.5;
P2O5/Al2O3 is from 0.5 to 1.5;
H2O/Al2O3 is from 5 to 200;
DGA/Al2O3 is from 2.5 to 30, DGA is diglycolamine;
(b) the initial gel mixture obtained in said step (a) is transferred into an autoclave, then sealed and heated to crystallization temperature range from 150° C. to 220° C., crystallized for crystallization time range from 5 h to 72 h under the autogenous pressure;
(c) after finishing the crystallization, the solid product is separated, washed to neutral using deionized water and dried to obtain said SAPO-34 molecular sieve.

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein in the initial gel mixture obtained in said step (a), the silicon source is one or more selected from silica sol, active silica, orthosilicate esters and metakaolin; the aluminum source is one or more selected from aluminum salts, activated alumina, aluminum alkoxide and metakaolin; the phosphorus source is one or more selected from phosphoric acid, diammonium hydrogen phosphate, ammonium dihydrogen phosphate, organophosphorous compounds and phosphorus oxides.

5. A method according to claim 3, wherein in said step (b), the crystallization is carried out statically or dynamically.

6. A method according to claim 3, wherein in the initial gel mixture obtained in said step (a), the molar ratio of organic amine DGA to Al2O3 SDA/Al2O3 is from 5.5 to 16.

7. A catalyst for acid-catalyzed reaction, which is obtained by calcining at least one of said SAPO-34 molecular sieves according to claim 1, at a temperature from 400 to 700° C. in air.

8. A catalyst for oxygenates to olefins reaction, which is obtained by calcining at least one of said SAPO-34 molecular sieves according to claim 1, at a temperature from 400 to 700° C. in air.

9. A material used for adsorption separation of CH4/CO2, which is obtained by calcining at least one of said SAPO-34 molecular sieves according to claim 1, at a temperature from 400 to 700° C. in air.