Direct conversion of syngas to DME as a green fuel in a high pressure microreactor: Influence of slurry solid content on characteristics and reactivity of washcoated CuO-ZnO-Al2O3/HZSM-5 nanocatalyst

Microchannels of a stainless steel microreactor were successfully washcoated with slurry of Cu-ZnO-Al2O3/HZSM-5 (CZAZ) nanocatalyst with different concentrations (10, 20 and 30 wt.%). The properties of nanocatalyst and the washcoated microchannels were investigated by XRD, FESEM, N-2 physisorption, FTIR, EDX-Dot mapping and EDX-Line mapping analysis. The best adherence was observed for 20 wt.% catalyst which has a uniform coating, almost no cracks and homogenous dispersion of copper and zinc. Trend of weight gain during 10 soaks in catalyst slurry was very slow for 10 wt.% but faster for 20 and 30 wt.%. Low amount of weight gain was observed for the last soaks of catalyst slurry in the case of 30 wt.% washcoating. The performance of microreactor with different slurry concentrations were evaluated in direct synthesis of DME at 200-300 degrees C, 60-150 cm(3)/min and 40 bar. Regardless of slurry concentration, the microreactor exhibited a better reactivity in comparison to fixed-bed reactor performance. Among three different slurry concentrations, 20 wt.% catalyst slurry revealed the best reactivity in direct DME synthesis. The reduction in reactor performance at higher flow rates was significant in the fixed-bed reactor while microreactor, particularly 20 wt.% washcoated channels, revealed less drastic reduction. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.