Investigation of the Effect of Cu-Based Catalyst Acidity on Hydrogen Production from the Water-Gas Shift Reaction

The Water Gas Shift reaction is essential to numerous activities, including the production of Hydrogen and the reforming of natural gas. This reaction is enhanced by various catalysts. However, the catalyst acidity is a crucial parameter that affects catalyst performance. In this work, using the co-precipitation method, the effects of catalyst acidity on the low-temperature Water Gas Shift (WGS) reaction were examined. In this way, ternary Cu/ZnO/ZrO۲ and Cu/ZnO/Al۲O۳ catalysts were selected and made. XRD, SEM, BET, NH۳-TPD, CO-TPD, and TGA studies were used to characterize the catalysts. The catalytic performance was tested at atmospheric pressure, ۱۸۰°C, and space velocity ۳۶۰۰ /h, with the inlet gas composition H۲O/CO= ۱/۱ in a fixed bed micro-reactor for around ۶ hours. Weak and moderately acidic sites were shown to be preferable to strong sites for the water gas shift reaction. The Cu/ZnO/ZrO۲ catalyst was the best one to use in the WGS process because of its acidity, which mostly consisted of mildly acidic sites.  Based on the experimental results, Cu/ZnO/ZrO۲ had a hydrogen selectivity and conversion of around ۶۱% and ۹۸%, respectively.

کلیدواژه ها:

Water gas shift reaction ، catalyst acidity ، Cu/ZnO/ZrO۲ catalyst ، Cu/ZnO/Al۲O۳ catalyst