CuCeOx/γ-Al2O3 catalyst for low temperature dimethyl ether partial oxidation to hydrogen-rich gas

Abstract

Low temperature dimethyl ether partial oxidation (DME PO) to hydrogen-rich gas was studied over Cu-Ce-Ox/γ-Al2O3 catalyst. The catalyst demonstrated stable operation under atmospheric pressure, T = 350 °C and gas hourly space velocity (GHSV = 20000 h−1) using reaction mixture (vol. %) CH3OCH3:O2:N2 = 16.7:16.7:66.6 (that corresponds to molar ratio DME:air = 1:5). X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis techniques were used for catalyst characterization. It was shown that the surface of the CuCeOx/γ-Al2O3 catalyst held copper-containing species of two types, namely, compact agglomerates of the CuO-CeO2 mixed oxides (up to ~100 nm in size) and copper nanoparticles (<5 nm).