Study of Partial Oxidative Steam Reforming of Methanol over Cu–ZnO/samaria-doped Ceria Catalyst

Abstract

Partial oxidative steaming reforming of methanol (POSRM) to produce hydrogen selectively for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) powering vehicles was studied over Cu–ZnO/samaria-doped ceria (SDC) catalyst. Compared with Cu–ZnO/α-Al2O3 and Cu–ZnO/γ-Al2O3 catalysts, the Cu–ZnO/SDC catalyst exhibited higher activity for CH3OH conversion and higher selectivity for H2 production in the POSRM reaction. The higher catalytic performance of Cu–ZnO/SDC appears attributable to the support effect of SDC. Effects of reaction temperature, O2/CH3OH and H2O/CH3OH molar ratios on the catalytic performance of Cu–ZnO/SDC were investigated. It has been found that the partial-oxidation nature of the POSRM reaction is increased when O2/CH3OH ratio is increased, and the combustion of methanol and H2 would occur insignificantly in the POSRM over the Cu–ZnO/SDC catalyst. A higher concentration of steam is beneficial to suppress CO formation over the Cu–ZnO/SDC catalyst. Under the experimental conditions of the present work, the O2/CH3OH and H2O/CH3OH molar ratios should be about 0.02 and 1.0–2.0, respectively, in order for Cu–ZnO/SDC to achieve an optimum catalytic performance.