Comparison of a commercial water-gas shift catalyst and La modified Cu-based catalysts prepared by deposition-precipitation in methanol steam reforming

Herein, a performance analysis of La-doped copper-based catalysts (CuO/ZrO(2)/La-Al(2)O(3)) in methanol steam reforming (MSR) was conducted and compared with a commercial low temperature water-gas shift catalyst (HiFUEL W220) to produce H(2) with low CO selectivity. The physicochemical properties of as-obtained catalysts were characterized by N(2) adsorption, XRD, and ICP-OES. Effect of calcination temperature (750 °C and 1000 °C) on the properties of mixed oxide support (La-Al(2)O(3)) were discussed based on catalytic activity. The optimum conditions of H(2)O/CH(3)OH ratio (1.0–3.0), space-time ratio (W(FA0)) (40–120 kg s mol(−1)), and reaction temperature (180–310 °C) were evaluated by a parametric study using the commercial catalyst (HF220). Additionally, thermodynamic equilibrium calculations of experimentally identified components by using Aspen HYSYS process simulation software were also performed to analyze MSR process. The results were indicated that the calcination temperature significantly affected the structural properties and the activity with respect to CO selectivity. An increasing trend in CO selectivity for catalysts with supports calcined at 750 °C and a decreasing trend for catalysts with supports calcined at 1000 °C were observed. Hence, CZ30LA(750) and CZ30LA(1000) catalysts were selected to attain low CO selectivity and comparable activity when compared to other catalysts and the simulated thermodynamic calculation results.