Extending the life of an aromatization catalyst

A method of aromatizing a hydrocarbon comprising:

• contacting a hydrocarbon with an aromatization catalyst comprising a crystalline aluminosilicate within a commercial-scale aromatization reactor to produce aromatic hydrocarbons;
• employing the aromatization catalyst in a test reactor system under an accelerated fouling condition to identify a test rapid deactivation threshold (t-RDT), wherein identifying the t-RDT further comprises identifying a point or range at which a fouling rate of the catalyst as a function of Time on Stream becomes non-linear, identifying a point or range at which a fouling rate of the catalyst as a function of a reactor temperature becomes non-linear, identifying a point or range at which a fouling rate of the catalyst as a function of a halogen content of the catalyst becomes non-linear, or identifying a critical amount of halogen required in the catalyst to inhibit catalyst deactivation during aromatization;
• predicting a rapid deactivation threshold (RDT) for the aromatization catalyst based upon the t-RDT to obtain a predicted RDT;
• and
• oxidizing the commercial-scale aromatization catalyst prior to the predicted RDT to extend the Time on Stream of the commercial-scale aromatization catalyst.