Oxydehydrogenation of propane catalyzed by VSiO cogels: enhancement of the selectivity to propylene by operation under cyclic conditions

The selectivity to propylene in the oxydehydrogenation of propane is improved when the reaction is carried out under cyclic, redox-decoupled conditions rather than under stationary, co-feeding conditions, and using vanadium oxide dispersed in silica as the catalyst. However, the improvement in selectivity is possible only in samples having a V content which is lower than 10 wt% V2O5. This points out the importance of having dispersed vanadium oxide to limit the consecutive combustion of propylene.