The Effect of ZnAl 2 O 4 on the Performance of Cu/Zn x Al y O x+1.5y Supported Catalysts in Steam Reforming of Methanol
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ORIGINAL PAPER
The Effect of ZnAl2O4 on the Performance of Cu/ZnxAlyOx+1.5y Supported Catalysts in Steam Reforming of Methanol Paweł Mierczynski • Krasimir Vasilev • Agnieszka Mierczynska • Waldemar Maniukiewicz Tomasz Maniecki
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Published online: 21 May 2013 Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013
Abstract This paper demonstrates the benefit of using spinel (ZnAl2O4) as a support for copper catalysts in hydrogen generation. We have investigated the influence of catalyst pre-treatment, support composition and copper content on the physicochemical and catalytic properties of copper catalysts supported on ZnxAlyOx?1.5y in the methanol steam reforming. The physicochemical properties of the catalysts were examined by X-ray diffraction, temperature-programmed reduction, specific surface area and porosity, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, FTIR and chemisorption methods. The reduced copper catalysts showed higher conversion of methanol and higher hydrogen production. We also found that the presence of Cu? and Cu0 species on the catalyst surface strongly influences the reaction yield and hydrogen production. FTIR measurements performed for copper catalysts confirmed that increasing of aluminium content in the case of catalytic systems caused the growth of adsorbed species on the catalyst surface. Keywords Copper catalysts ZnAl2O4 Steam reforming Hydrogen production Spinel system
P. Mierczynski (&) W. Maniukiewicz T. Maniecki Institute of General and Ecological Chemistry, Lodz University of Technology, Zeromskiego 116, 90-924 Lodz, Poland e-mail: [email protected] K. Vasilev A. Mierczynska Mawson Institute, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, Adelaide, SA 5095, Australia A. Mierczynska Ian Wark Research Institute, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA 5095, Australia
1 Introduction The increasing evidence for human driven global warming and the exhausted reserves of fossil fuels have made the search for alternative energy sources even more urgent. Hydrogen has been identified as a promising alternative energy source [1, 2] and today it is widely accepted that hydrogen and hydrogen fuel cells are a great opportunity to reduce emissions of toxic compounds such as nitrogen oxides, carbon oxides, various hydrocarbons, and in this way contribute to reducing environmental pollution and tackling global warming [2, 3]. In the near future, hydrogen fuel cells are expected to be used in automobiles, power generation, cell phones, laptops and other devices. Hydrogen is also an environmentally-friendly energy source because the combustion process of hydrogen releases only nitrogen oxides (in significantly lower amounts compared to fossil fuels) and water vapours. However, when the oxidation process is carried out in fuel cells, the only by-product is water vapour [1, 3]. Furthermore, hydrogen is also one of the most important raw materials used in synthesis of essential chemical products such as ammonia, hydrogen chloride, methanol and synthetic gasoline [4, 5]. These are some of the reasons
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