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Methanol synthesis under periodic operation: An experimental investigation
Author(s) -
Chanchlani K. G.,
Hudgins R. R.,
Silveston P. L.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
the canadian journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1939-019X
pISSN - 0008-4034
DOI - 10.1002/cjce.5450720416
Subject(s) - isothermal process , cycling , methanol , catalysis , yield (engineering) , materials science , amplitude , thermodynamics , chemistry , analytical chemistry (journal) , chemical engineering , metallurgy , chromatography , organic chemistry , physics , optics , engineering , archaeology , history
Experiments have been conducted on Cu/ZnO and Cu/ZnO/Al 2 O 3 catalysts at 225°C and 2.86 MPa in an isothermal, differential packed bed reactor to identify promising periodic operations strategies and find cycling variables which give the largest improvement in the synthesis rate relative to steady state. Modulating the H 2 and CO 2 concentrations appears to be the best strategy. However, the increased rate under composition modulation was insensitive to cycle period, amplitude and split in the cycle period range from 2 to 30 min. Higher methanol yield resulted from the suppression of the reverse water gas shift reaction. Higher rates under cycling arise from structural or compositional changes to the catalyst surface.