The promoting effect of alcohols in a new process of low-temperature synthesis of methanol from CO/CO2/H2

The catalytic promoting effects of eleven different alcohols, as reaction medium, on the synthesis of methanol from feed gas of CO/CO₂/H₂ on Cu/ZnO solid catalyst were investigated. Added alcohol altered the reaction route to realize a low-temperature synthesis method where formate was an intermediate. Many alcohols showed catalytic promoting effect for methanol formation at temperature as low as 443 K, remarkably lower than that in the present industrial ICI process.     

A new low-temperature methanol synthesis method: Mechanistic and kinetics study of catalytic process

Mechanism and kinetics of catalytic process for a new low-temperature methanol synthesis on Cu/ZnO catalysts from syngas (CO/CO₂/H₂) using catalytically active alcohol promoters were investigated by in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS). Two intermediate species, adsorbed formate species and alkyl formate species, were formed in this synthesis process. The adsorbed formate species easily reacted with ethanol or 2-propanol at 443 K and atmospheric pressure, and the reaction rate with 2-propanol was faster than that with ethanol. Alkyl formate was readily reduced to form methanol at 443 K and 1.0 MPa, and the hydrogenation rate of 2-propyl formate was found to be quicker than that of ethyl formate. As a promoter, 2-propanol exhibited a higher activity than ethanol in the reaction of the low-temperature methanol synthesis.     

低温甲醇合成研究进展

日本学者Tsubaki等开创了一种全新的低温甲醇合成反应路径。该路径以含有二氧化碳的合成气为反应原料,使用单一低碳醇(包括甲醇)同时作为催化剂和溶剂,实现了反应原料一氧化碳在低温(443 K)条件下,一步转化率达到70%～100%。原位红外和多种表征手段证明,该反应能够在低温条件下进行,是由于催化剂上吸附的甲酸盐物种可以和多种低碳醇溶剂在低温条件发生酯化反应,生成相对应的甲酸酯。而生成的甲酸酯很容易在低温条件下,铜基催化剂表面,发生加氢反应,生成甲醇和相应的溶剂醇。该种全新的甲醇合成路径克服了常规甲醇合成过程中,甲酸盐必须在高温条件下才能发生加氢反应的关键步骤。同时,还介绍了适用于低温甲醇合成反应的金属Cu/ZnO催化剂制备方法的研究进展。全新的溶胶-凝胶-燃烧法、固相研磨-燃烧法以及甲酸辅助燃烧法直接制备高活性、纳米尺度、高分散的金属Cu/ZnO催化剂,而不需要额外的还原流程。     

A Novel, Low Temperature Synthesis Method of Dimethyl Ether Over Cu–Zn Catalyst Based on Self-Catalysis Effect of Methanol

A new DME synthesis route from syngas at a relatively low temperature (443 K) has been developed for the first time by the combination of a conventional DME synthesis catalyst (Cu/ZnO:HZSM-5 catalyst) with methanol as a catalytic solvent. The addition of methanol to the reaction system is the key to the success of DME synthesis at this temperature. Indeed, a CO conversion of 29 and 43% with a DME selectivity of 69 and 68% were achieved at 443 or 453 K, respectively, and 4 MPa, when methanol was used as a catalytic solvent. Importantly, no other by-products including methanol and hydrocarbons were observed in the DME product attained, suggesting no significant subsequent purification stages. Assuming no scale up problems, this process potentially provides a high purity of DME with less energy consumption, and so offers an opportunity for the economically viable future sustainable production of DME.     

Spectroscopic and Kinetic Analysis of a New Low-Temperature Methanol Synthesis Reaction

The spectroscopy and kinetics of a new low-temperature methanol synthesis method were studied by using in situ DRIFTS on Cu/ZnO catalysts from syngas (CO/CO₂/H₂) using alcohol promoters. The adsorbed formate species easily reacted with ethanol or 2-propanol at 443 K and atmospheric pressure, and the reaction rate with 2-propanol was faster than that with ethanol. Alkyl formate was easily reduced to form methanol at 443 K and 1.0 MPa, and the hydrogenation rate of 2-propyl formate was found to be faster than that of ethyl formate. 2-Propanol used as promoter exhibited a higher activity than ethanol in the reaction of the low-temperature methanol synthesis.     

Low-temperature methanol synthesis from carbon dioxide and hydrogen via formic ester

A new route of methanol synthesis, at 443 K and under pressurized conditions, from carbon dioxide and hydrogen through formic ester was investigated, by using Cu-based catalysts. This one-pot reaction consisted of three steps:

1. formic acid synthesis from CO₂ and H₂,

2. esterification of formic acid by ethanol to ethyl formate, and

3. hydrogenolysis of ethyl formate to methanol and ethanol.

Continuous synthesis process of methanol at low temperature from syngas using alcohol promoters

A continuous process for low-temperature methanol synthesis from CO/CO₂/H₂ based on the promoting effect of alcohol solvent has been developed. 2-butanol, acting as a promoter, with the aid of Cu/ZnO solid catalyst, realized the high efficient synthesis of methanol with one-pass methanol yield of 47.0% and methanol selectivity of 98.9% at temperature as low as 443 K and 50 bar, which can be a very promising method for methanol production at low temperature.     

A novel low-temperature methanol synthesis method from CO/H2/CO2 based on the synergistic effect between solid catalyst and homogeneous catalyst

The activity of a binary catalyst in alcoholic solvents for methanol synthesis from CO/H₂/CO₂ at low temperature was investigated in a concurrent synthesis course. Experiment results showed that the combination of homogeneous potassium formate catalyst and solid copper–magnesia catalyst enhanced the conversion of CO₂-containing syngas to methanol at temperature of 423–443 K and pressure of 3–5 MPa. Under a contact time of 100 g h/mol, the maximum conversion of total carbon approached the reaction equilibrium and the selectivity of methanol was 99%. A reaction pathway involving esterification and hydrogenolysis of esters was postulated based on the integrative and separate activity tests, along with the structural characterization of the catalysts. Both potassium formate for the esterification as well as Cu/MgO for the hydrogenolysis were found to be crucial to this homogeneous and heterogeneous synergistically catalytic system. CO and H₂ were involved in the recycling of potassium formate.     

Optimization of Cu oxide catalysts for methanol synthesis by combinatorial tools using 96 well microplates, artificial neural network and genetic algorithm

Compact and economic processes for methanol synthesis from syngas demand a new catalyst that is active under low-pressure and low temperature. Combinatorial approach comprising a high-pressure high-throughput screening (HTS) reactor system, an artificial neural network (NN), and a genetic algorithm (GA) was applied for the catalyst development. A variety of 96 microplates were used in the HTS reactor system for both preparation and activity testing to handle 96 catalyst samples simultaneously. Activity test results were used as training data for NN. After training, the NN can map catalyst activity as a function of catalyst composition and parameters for catalyst preparation. GA was used as an optimization tool to find maximum catalyst activity in the trained artificial neural network. Composition of methanol synthesis catalyst (Cu–Zn–Al–Sc–B–Zr), calcination temperature and the amount of precipitant were optimized simultaneously under pressure (1 MPa) because optimum catalyst composition is usually affected by both preparation and reaction conditions. The composition of the optimum catalyst was Cu/Zn/Al/Sc/B/Zr=43/17/23/11/0/6 prepared using 2.2 times the equivalent of oxalic acid and calcined at 605 K. The activity (427 g-MeOH/kg-cat./h) was much higher than that of industrial catalyst (250 g-MeOH/kg-cat./h) at 1 MPa, 498 K.     

Direct synthesis of organic carbonates from the reaction of CO2 with methanol and ethanol over CeO2 catalysts

The catalytic properties of CeO₂ catalysts in direct synthesis of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) from CH₃OH and CO₂ were investigated. The formation rate of DMC over the catalysts calcined at 873 K and above was almost proportional to the surface area of catalysts. However, CeO₂ calcined at 673 K showed lower activity than expected from the surface area. From the results of catalyst characterization, CeO₂ calcined at 673 K contained considerable amount of amorphous phase. In contrast, the ratio of amorphous phase decreased on the catalysts calcined at 873 K and above. This suggests that stable crystallite surface is active for the reaction.

In the CH₃OH + C₂H₅OH + CO₂ reaction at low temperature, ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC) was formed, and selectivity of EMC formation was comparable to that of DMC. The formation route is discussed by the comparison with transesterification reaction.     

Aerobic selective oxidation of (hetero)aromatic primary alcohols to aldehydes or carboxylic acids over carbon supported platinum

The synthesis of substituted benzaldehydes, benzoic acids, heterocyclic aromatic aldehydes and acids has been studied via the oxidation of the aromatic alcohols with air under mild pressure (<20 bar) at 100 °C, in the presence of a 1.95 wt.% Pt/C catalyst. The solvent was found to play the most important role in determining the selectivity of the oxidation products. Changing the solvent enabled tuning the reaction either to the aldehyde (pure dioxane), or the carboxylic acid (dioxane/aqueous solution without or with addition of sodium hydroxide). This oxidation method allowed to effectively oxidize many substituted benzylalcohols with various electron-releasing or -attracting groups (NO₂, Me, OMe, Cl, Br, OH, phenyl, …) and heterocyclic alcohols including nitrogen and sulphur atoms (2-thiophenemethanol, 2- and 4-pyridine methanol compounds).     

Toluene methylation on Al13- and GaAl12-pillared clay catalysts

The catalytic activity and selectivity of montmorillonite pillared with Al₁₃ and GaAl₁₂ polyoxycations have been investigated at temperatures between 573 K and 673 K for the gas-phase microcatalytic alkylation of toluene with methanol. A mixture of xylenes (XYs) was obtained as the main reaction products: 69% and 74% of xylenes for the Al- and GaAl–PILC catalysts, respectively, at 573 K. Trimethylbenzenes (1,2,4- and 1,2,3-isomers) were also found (31% and 26% for the Al and GaAl catalysts, respectively, at 573 K). The XY-isomer distribution followed the order o>p>m.

The influence of the toluene concentration in methanol (2.5; 1.0; 0.5 M) upon the conversion of toluene and the selectivities of the products were also investigated. An increase in toluene molarity produced a decrease in toluene conversion and an increase in xylene selectivity for both the Al and GaAl catalysts.

A good correlation was obtained between catalytic activity and increase in acid sites, as determined by pyridine and dimethylpyridine chemisorption in the gas-phase.     

Catalytic performance for CO2 conversion to methanol of gallium-promoted copper-based catalysts: influence of metallic precursors

This study reports new gallium-promoted copper-based catalysts prepared by co-impregnation of methoxide–acetylacetonate (acac) precursors from methanolic solutions onto silica and zinc oxide supports. Catalyst performance in the CO₂ hydrogenation to methanol was investigated at 2 MPa and temperatures between 523 and 543 K. A high activity and selectivity for ZnO-supported catalysts was found, which also showed a high stability in terms of both activity and selectivity. The maximum value for the activity was 378 g MeOH/kg cat h at 543 K, with a selectivity of 88% towards methanol production. The high performance of these materials in the CO₂ hydrogenation is related to the presence of Ga₂O₃ promoter and highly dispersed Cu⁺ species on the surface, determined by XPS and Auger on used catalysts.     

Comparison of supports for the direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide from H2 and O2 using Au–Pd catalysts

The direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide from H₂ and O₂ using a range of supported Au–Pd alloy catalysts is compared for different supports using conditions previously identified as being optimal for hydrogen peroxide synthesis, i.e. low temperature (2 °C) using a water–methanol solvent mixture and short reaction time. Five supports are compared and contrasted, namely Al₂O₃, -Fe₂O₃, TiO₂, SiO₂ and carbon. For all catalysts the addition of Pd to the Au only catalyst increases the rate of hydrogen peroxide synthesis as well as the concentration of hydrogen peroxide formed. Of the materials evaluated, the carbon-supported Au–Pd alloy catalysts give the highest reactivity. The results show that the support can have an important influence on the synthesis of hydrogen peroxide from the direct reaction. The effect of the methanol–water solvent is studied in detail for the 2.5 wt% Au–2.5 wt% Pd/TiO₂ catalyst and the ratio of methanol to water is found to have a major effect on the rate of hydrogen peroxide synthesis. The optimum mixture for this solvent system is 80 vol.% methanol with 20 vol.% water. However, the use of water alone is still effective albeit at a decreased rate. The effect of catalyst mass was therefore also investigated for the water and water–methanol solvents and the observed effect on the hydrogen peroxide productivity using water as a solvent is not considered to be due to mass transfer limitations. These results are of importance with respect to the industrial application of these Au–Pd catalysts.     

Methanol decomposition to synthesis gas at low temperature over palladium supported on ceria–zirconia solid solutions

The Ce_xZr_1−xO₂ solid solution was used as a support of a palladium catalyst for methanol decomposition to synthesis gas at low temperature. All Pd-containing catalysts tested in this study showed high selectivity to synthesis gas (over 96%). The Pd supported on the composite oxide with a Ce/Zr molar ratio of 4/1 exhibited the highest activity. Pd/Ce_0.8Zr_0.2O₂ (17 wt.%) (cop) (prepared by coprecipitation method) showed a conversion of 51.2% for the methanol decomposition at 473 K, which was higher than those over 17 wt.% Pd/CeO₂ (cop) (40.7%) and 17 wt.% Pd/ZrO₂ (cop) (24.3%) at 473 K. The 17 wt.% Pd/Ce_0.8Zr_0.2O₂ (cop) catalyst showed a higher BET surface area and smaller Pd particles than those of 17 wt.% Pd/CeO₂ (cop). Moreover, a more active Pd^σ+ state could be maintained by Zr⁴⁺ ion modification due to promotion of the oxygen mobility and enhancement of the reductibility and increase in the acid sites of the CeO₂ support. The 17 wt.% Pd/Ce_0.8Zr_0.2O₂ (cop) catalyst showed a much higher conversion (51.2%) than that over 17 wt.% Pd/Ce_0.8Zr_0.2O₂ (imp) (prepared by impregnation method) (17.2%) at 473 K. This is due to the 17 wt.% Pd/Ce_0.8Zr_0.2O₂ (cop) possessing many small Pd particles. The 17 wt.% Pd/Ce_0.8Zr_0.2O₂ (cop) catalyst showed an initial conversion of 51.2% at 473 K but the conversion decreased to 43.1% after 24 h on stream. This deactivation was attributed to carbonaceous deposit on the catalyst surface. The amounts of coke on the 17 wt.% Pd/Ce_0.8Zr_0.2O₂ (cop) catalyst were 0.9 wt.% after 24 h on stream at 473 K and 2.1 wt.% after 1 h on stream at 523 K.     

Methanol selectivity of silica-supported PtFe

Adding Fe to Pt/SiO₂ catalysts improves activity for methanol synthesis from 3H₂/CO at 523 K and 3.19 MPa. Over 90% methanol selectivity can be achieved at low conversion, depending on the metal composition and dispersion.In situ Mössbauer measurements after reduction in hydrogen at 673 K and during steady-state reaction show the presence of PtFe alloy and Fe³⁺ phases only. The amount of PtFe alloy increases as catalysts activate to produce methanol with higher activity and selectivity.     

In situ FTIR study on reaction pathways in Ni(CO)4/CH3OK catalytic system for low-temperature methanol synthesis in a liquid medium

An in situ infrared spectroscopic study was conducted to elucidate the reaction pathways for low-temperature methanol synthesis in a catalytic system composed of Ni(CO)₄ and CH₃OK (denoted as Ni(CO)₄/CH₃OK). The reaction was conducted in a liquid medium at 313–333 K with an initial pressure of 3.0 MPa. When CH₃OK was added to Ni(CO)₄ solution at 293 K, different carbonylnickelates, [Ni₅(CO)₁₂]²⁻, [Ni₆(CO)₁₂]²⁻ and [Ni(CO)₃(COOCH₃)]⁻, were immediately formed from Ni(CO)₄. The species and the composition of the carbonylnickel complexes varied with temperature. The variations in concentrations of methanol (MeOH) and methyl formate (MF) during the run, which were determined from their IR absorptions, indicated a pattern characteristic of consecutive reactions with MF as an intermediate. Thus, it was shown that methanol was produced through the carbonylation of MeOH to MF and the subsequent hydrogenation of MF to MeOH. Stable hydridocarbonylnickel anions, [HNi(CO)₃]⁻ and/or [HNi₂(CO)₆]⁻, were observed together with a small amount of Ni(CO)₄ throughout the methanol synthesis. Since Ni(CO)₄ alone showed no activity for the hydrogenation of MF, the hydridocarbonylnickel anions generated in the presence of CH₃OK must be responsible for the reaction. The dual role of CH₃OK in the catalytic system was stated.     

含CO2合成气低温合成甲醇的研究

以含CO₂的合成气为原料,Cu-Zn基催化剂,醇溶剂,低温、低压（443 K、3.0 MPa）下合成甲醇。考察了时间、溶剂和催化剂对反应的影响。结果表明,随着反应时间的增加,碳的总转化率、甲醇选择性及收率均逐渐增加;醇溶剂参与反应,但并不被消耗,起到助催化作用,且2-丁醇溶剂表现出较高的反应活性;ZnO、Y₂O₃、La₂O₃、MgO和Al₂O₃作为载体制得的Cu/M_xO_y催化剂,Cu/ZnO呈现出较高的反应活性;稀土元素La作为助剂,能提高Cu-Zn基催化剂的活性,当使用n(Cu)∶n(Zn+La)=1∶1,且n(Zn)∶n(La)=3∶2的Cu/ZnO/La2O3催化剂进行甲醇合成反应时,碳总转化率、甲醇的选择性和收率均高于Cu/ZnO催化剂。     

用于低温液相合成甲醇的Cu/MgO/ZnO催化剂

采用并流共沉淀法制备了不同Cu:(Mg+Zn)及Mg:Zn摩尔比的铜基催化剂Cu/MgO/ZnO,用于低温液相甲醇的合成,并对比了Cu/ZnO及Cu/MgO催化剂,分析了催化剂中载体MgO的作用. 结果表明,MgO的引入有利于催化剂中Cu+的生成并均匀分散在载体中,可提高催化剂的催化活性. 以合成气CO+H2为原料,在443 K和5.0 MPa条件下,采用液体石蜡作溶剂,考察了催化剂的催化性能. 结果表明,Cu/MgO/ZnO催化剂的活性优于Cu/ZnO和Cu/MgO催化剂,且当Cu:Mg:Zn=2:1:1时催化性能最好,此时合成气中CO的转化率为63.56%,甲醇的选择性为99.09%,时空收率为5.413 mol/(kg×h). 分析了Cu/MgO催化剂在高温反应条件下的失活现象,认为铜烧结是其失活的主要原因.     

Partial oxidation of alkanes to oxygenates in supercritical carbon dioxide

The catalytic partial oxidation of propane in supercritical carbon dioxide has been investigated in a stirred batch reactor. Various metals (oxides) have been used as supported catalysts with respect to their activity and selectivity for the formation of oxygenates. The reactions run with a 1:2.3–2.9:68–108 molar ratio of propane:synthetic air:CO₂ at 453–573 K and 80–100 bar. Using a precipitated 2.4 wt.% Co₃O₄–SiO₂ catalyst at 573 K, a total oxygenate (i.e. acetic acid, acetone, acetaldehyde, methanol) selectivity of 59% and a propene selectivity of 21% were obtained at a propane conversion of 12 mol%. The same catalyst has been used to investigate the influence of the supercritical conditions and initial feed composition on the reaction, varying the density of CO₂ and the concentration of synthetic air, respectively.