In the presented research, the selective hydrogenation of benzene in a mixture of benzene and normal heptane (5 vol % of benzene) over different kinds of heterogeneous catalysts was investigated. For this purpose, a series of catalysts with various supports such as Pd/ZSM-5, Pd/13X and Pd/Al2O3 was developed. To prepare Pd supported catalysts, the modification of supports was conducted by a specified amount of palladium nitrate in the aqueous solution. Experimental catalyst evaluation tests were performed in the catalyst assessment setup. The characterizations of the physicochemical properties of the prepared catalysts were performed by XRD, NH₃-TPD and BET. It can be found that the conversion of benzene was promoted under the optimized reaction conditions of 200 °C, 1 MPa, H2/HC = 1.3 (molar ratio) and the weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) = 25 hr-1. Among these catalysts, Pd/13X exhibited the maximum conversion of benzene (90 %) and the minimum light-cut production under the optimum conditions. The study on the stability of catalysts shows that, the decline activity of Pd/13X catalyst is more than that of the other catalysts (from 90 % to 81 %) in the specified 20 h time on stream, but so far the activity of this catalyst is the highest in comparison with that of other catalysts at the end of the defined time (20 h).
