A novel process for methanol synthesis
A bench-scale reactor is being used to conduct studies of the conversion of synthesis gas to methanol by a novel process. During the last quarter, we provided evidence for a two step reaction in series as against the direct hydrogenation of CO. We believe that the carbonylation reaction takes place in the liquid phase adjacent to the solid catalyst surface while the hydrogenolysis reaction is restricted to the surface of Cu-chromite. A non-equilibrium film model was proposed to explain the unexpectedly high reaction rates and the increased tolerance of the process to CO. In this quarter, we looked at the effect of Cu-chromite loading and surface area. A Cu-chromite catalyst was synthesized in-house using a coprecipitation technique and its activity compared to a commercial catalyst. The effect of stirrer speed and feed flow rate on the rate of MeOH synthesis was also investigated. In the absence of mass transfer limitations, the rate of methanol synthesis (expressed per unit weight of the catalyst) varies with catalyst loading and feed flow rate. It is likely that a deactivating species is generated in-situ or is present in the feed. 8 refs., 6 figs., 5 tabs.
- Research Organization:
- Pittsburgh Univ., PA (United States). Dept. of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG22-89PC89786
- OSTI ID:
- 5017885
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/PC/89786-T3; ON: DE92001962
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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A novel process for methanol synthesis
A novel process for methanol synthesis. Progress report, June 1, 1992--August 31, 1992
Related Subjects
10 SYNTHETIC FUELS
CHROMIUM COMPOUNDS
CATALYTIC EFFECTS
COPPER COMPOUNDS
PARTICLE SIZE
METHANOL
SYNTHESIS
SYNTHESIS GAS
CONVERSION
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
CARBON MONOXIDE
PROGRESS REPORT
STIRRING
SURFACE AREA
ALCOHOLS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
DOCUMENT TYPES
FLUIDS
GASES
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
SIZE
SURFACE PROPERTIES
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS
010408* - Coal
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100200 - Synthetic Fuels- Production- (1990-)