Hidrogenação de CO2 para a síntese de metanol e dimetil éter usando catalisadores à base de cobre, zinco e alumínio

Abstract

The growing concern with carbon emissions is driving research in different fields aiming to find solutions that mitigate their effects. It is in this context where CCUS technologies might arise as a potential application in the sustainable and economically viable destination of carbon dioxide. One possible route is the hydrogenation of CO2 to generate important chemical products, such as methanol and dimethyl ether. The present work aims to assess the catalytic process for the synthesis of methanol and DME with CO2 and H2 gases as reagents employing copper-based materials, zinc and aluminum as catalysts. In this study, the effects of temperature, pressure and molar ratio of the two reagents in the hydrogenation process of CO2 with a commercial catalyst are evaluated in a lab scale fixed bed unit. The main conclusion regarding the process is that, although higher temperatures favor the conversion of CO2, the process is limited by thermodynamics and the yields of the products of interest are very low. Different catalysts, characterized through XRD, XRF and nitrogen adsorption techniques, were evaluated in the fixed bed unit under the same reaction conditions and the results suggest that there is a relationship between the materials with their characteristics related to the adsorption capacity of the two reagents.