The selective methanol dehydration to DME using a Zr-loaded P-containing activated carbon catalyst have been studied. The activated carbon was prepared by chemical activation of olive stones with phosphoric acid. Then, the resulting activated carbon was loaded with a 5 % of Zr by incipient wetness impregnation.
A kinetic study for the selective methanol dehydration to DME was carried out and the corresponding kinetic and thermodynamic parameters were calculated. Three reaction mechanism were proposed. A Langmuir-Hinshelwood like mechanism was the one that better reproduced the experimental data.
