EFFECTS OF PREPARATION OF Cu/Zn OVER Al2O3 CATALYSTS FOR HYDROGEN PRODUCTION FROM METHANOL REFORMING
Keywords:
Methanol reforming, Hydrogen production, Cu/Zn based catalysts, Incipient wetness im pregnationsAbstract
A novel catalyst for hydrogen production from the catalytic methanol reforming process could play animportant role in hydrogen production to be used as a feed for a fuel cell. This study focuses on thepreparation methods of active Cu/Zn based catalysts with and without urea by incipient wetnessimpregnations to lower the metal loading and catalyst cost. The catalytic methanol reforming wasstudied in a fixed-bed reactor under mild conditions and a reaction temperature range of 453 and 523K in order to lower energy costs. The activity in the hydrogen production of the impregnated catalystsand a commercial catalyst was analyzed by gas chromatography and compared in terms of hydrogenproduction yield. The catalysts were also characterized by XRD and SEM in order to identify thephysical and chemical properties of the catalysts. The data show that the activity in hydrogen productionfrom the catalysts with urea is higher than that of the catalysts without urea. The impregnated catalystscould exhibit activity at as low a temperature as 453 K which indicates the possibility of lowering thereaction temperature for the methanol reforming process. The Cu/Zn catalysts prepared by incipientwetness impregnation over Al2O3 with urea could exhibit high activity about 28% H2 yield withefficiency about 97% compared with the commercial catalyst. The impregnated catalysts could bealternative catalysts for hydrogen production from methanol reforming with a lower cost of the catalystcompared with the co-precipitation method used in a commercial one.
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