Sb–V–O-based catalysts for the ammoxidation of propane with a fluidized bed reactor

Propane ammoxidation is usually investigated with fixed-bed reactors at laboratory scale; however, this kind of reactions takes place over fluid-bed reactors in industry. The present paper investigates the catalytic ammoxidation of propane over supported Sb–V–O catalysts using a fluidized bed microreactor. The effect of support, Sb/V atomic ratio, Sb + V total coverage, synthesis procedures, as well as the effect of Nb as additive of the Sb–V–O system were evaluated. The activity results show that the selectivity trends are quite similar to those obtained with a fixed-bed reactor but a higher amount of active phase is necessary for the fluidized bed catalysts to obtain similar acrylonitrile yields.