Methanol Synthesis from Industrial CO2 Sources: A Contribution to Chemical Energy Conversion

CO2 hydrogenation as a route for the chemical energy storage over a commercial Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst has been studied. To check the optimal conditions for an efficient methanol production the influence of temperature and space velocity on the catalytic performance has been demonstrated. Time-on-stream measurements in the absence and the presence of benzene in the gas feed mixture were performed to investigate the possibility to use alternative carbon sources, which contain traces of aromatics. The catalyst can operate in a stable way without the presence of carbon monoxide in the feed, which means that increased water contents in the product gas cannot destroy the catalyst's performance completely. The presence of benzene in the feed does not lead to a deactivation of the catalyst. With these findings methanol production starting from exhaust gases from steel mills seems to become an interesting alternative for sustainable methanol production. [GRAPHICS] .