Patent ID: 8802912

Claim:
A method of increasing stability of a catalyst used in a dehydrogenation process, the method comprising: storing fresh catalyst in a storage hopper for an average catalyst residence time between 100 and 200 hours; passing a gas through the storage hopper, wherein the gas has a moisture content ranging from about 600 ppmv to about 4000 ppmv and where the gas is maintained at a temperature between 200° C. and about 290° C., and wherein the gas is a non-oxidizing gas selected from the list consisting of hydrogen, methane, ethane, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, argon and mixtures thereof; introducing hydrocarbons and hydrogen gas into a reactor positioned downstream from the storage hopper to facilitate a dehydrogenation reaction, wherein the reactor includes catalyst for increasing the rate of the dehydrogenation reaction; and replenishing spent catalyst in the reactor with fresh catalyst from the storage hopper.