Hossein Mohammadzadeh - Department of Gas Engineering, Ahvaz Faculty of Petroleum, Petroleum University of Technology, Ahvaz, Iran
Ahmad Shariati - Department of Gas Engineering, Ahvaz Faculty of Petroleum, Petroleum University of Technology, Ahvaz, Iran
Mohammad Reza Khosravi-Nikou - Department of Gas Engineering, Ahvaz Faculty of Petroleum, Petroleum University of Technology, Ahvaz, Iran

In this study, the performance of a series of iron-based catalysts on alumina (Al۲O۳) and zirconia(ZrO۲) supports was investigated. The catalysts were synthesized by the impregnation method. Theacidic properties of the catalysts were studied by Temperature-programmed desorption of NH۳ (NH۳-TPD) analysis. The number of acidic sites for the catalyst supported on alumina was higher than thatof zirconia. Fe/ZrO۲ catalyst showed better performance in propylene production. The highperformance of the Fe/ZrO۲ catalyst was attributed to the weak and medium acid sites of the catalyst.The presence of carbon dioxide as an oxidant improved the catalytic performance. Carbon dioxideshowed good performance in the re-oxidation of reduced iron species and elimination of coke.

Dehydrogenation, Propane, Iron-based catalyst, Carbon dioxide, NH۳-TPD analysis