Hydrogen Generation Using a CuO/ZnO-ZrO2 Nanocatalyst for Autothermal Reforming of Methanol in a Microchannel Reactor

Abstract

In the present work, a microchannel reactor for autothermal reforming of methanol using a synthesized catalyst porous alumina support-CuO/ZnO mixed with ZrO2 sol washcoat has been developed and its fine structure and inner surface characterized. Experimentally, CuO/ZnO and alumina support with ZrO2 sol washcoat catalyst (catalyst slurries) nanoparticles is the catalytically active component of the microreactor. Catalyst slurries have been dried at 298 K for 5 h and then calcined at 623 K for 2 h to increase the surface area and specific pore structures of the washcoat catalyst. The surface area of BET N2 adsorption isotherms for the as-synthesized catalyst and catalyst/ZrO2 sol washcoat samples are 62 and 108 ± 2 m2g−1, respectively. The intensities of Cu content from XRD and XPS data indicate that Al2O3 with Cu species to form CuAl2O4. The EXAFS data reveals that the Cu species in washcoat samples have Cu-O bonding with a bond distance of 1.88 ± 0.02 Å and the coordination number is 3.46 ± 0.05, respectively. Moreover, a hydrogen production rate of 2.16 L h−1 is obtained and the corresponding methanol conversion is 98% at 543 K using the CuO/ZnO with ZrO2 sol washcoat catalyst.

Short Review: Cu Catalyst for Autothermal Reforming Methanol for Hydrogen Production

“…Conventional methods for hydrogen production are based on gasoline [29][30][31], natural gas [42][43][44], methanol [45,23,22,[46][47][48][49][50][51]52], ethanol [12,15,53,[54][55][56][57][58], and a renewable raw material [59][60][61][62][63].…”

Cu/ZnO/Al2O3/Cr2O3/CeO2 Catalyst for Hydrogen Production by Oxidative Methanol Reforming via Washcoat Catalyst Preparation in Microchannel Reactor

“…The binder has plays a major role on the catalyst washcoat [4]. Binder served to reinforce coating adhesion between sols and catalyst in microchannel plate.…”

“…The washcoat method has some advantages to obtain the utmost performance for the SRM reaction based on the resulting porosity and surface structures. The binder play a major role on the basis of: (i) slurry viscosity being affected by its chemical structure and molecular weight, (ii) coating adhesion, and (iii) catalytic activity by re-dispersion of the active phase because formation of metal complexes influences the catalytic activities in the WGS reaction [4].…”

“…The preparation procedure is influenced by low interactions between metallic reactor surfaces and catalyst slurries [4]. Several coating techniques have been applied for microchannels such as chemical vapor deposition, anodic oxidation, sol-gel process, washcoating, and electro-deposition [5].…”

Thermal Behavior and Hydrogen Production of Methanol Autothermal Reforming Performed Using Oxygen Enrichment and Cu/ZnO/Al2O3/Cr2O3/CeO2 Catalyst

“…Methanol is simply the easiest to convert H2 because its boiling point is low and it is safe to handle and store [1,2], and also because methanol is sulfur-free, and it can be activated at low temperatures (<300 °C) [3]. Methanol features a high hydrogen-carbon ratio and no C-C bonds, which minimizes the risk for coke formation.…”