Methanol Steam Reforming Catalyzing over Cu/Zn/Fe Mixed Oxide Catalysts

Methanol steam reforming plays a pivotal role in the production of hydrogen for fuel cell systems in a low temperature range. To accomplish higher methanol conversion and lower CO production, the reaction was catalyzed by Cu/Zn/Fe mixed oxides. Various ratios of Fe and Cu/Zn were co-precipitated in differential method to optimize the Cu/Zn/Fe structure. The sample containing 45Cu50Zn5Fe (wt %) revealed its maximum methanol conversion of 98.4 % and CO selectivity of 0.78 % with operating conditions of gas hourly space velocity of 18000 h^-1 and steam to carbon molar ratio of 1.3 at 270 °C. The synthesized catalysts were analyzed by powder X-ray diffraction, N2 adsorption/desorption, temperature programmed reduction, scanning electron microscopy techniques. The results revealed that the prepared samples presented mesoporous structure with different pore size depending on the Cu/Zn/Fe ratios. The results showed that increase in Fe loading to 20 wt % empowered methanol conversion and decreased CO selectivity. Moreover, the optimized catalyst activity was kept constant during 17 h time on stream. Besides, operating conditions of gas hourly space velocity and steam to carbon ratios were evaluated.