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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Florence, South Carolina » Coastal Plain Soil, Water and Plant Conservation Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #365482
Research Project: Improvement of Soil Management Practices and Manure Treatment/Handling Systems of the Southern Coastal Plain

Location: Coastal Plain Soil, Water and Plant Conservation Research

Title: Selective hydrogenation of carbon dioxide into methanol

Author
item PHAM MINH, DOAN - University Of Toulouse
item ROGER, ANNE-CÉCILE - Université De Strasbourg: Accueil
item PARKHOMENKO, KSENIA - Université De Strasbourg: Accueil
item L'HOSPITAL, VALENTIN - Université De Strasbourg: Accueil
item REGO DE VASCONCELOS, BRUNA - Universite De Sherbrooke
item Ro, Kyoung
item MAHAJAN, DEVINDER - Stony Brook University
item CHEN, LYUFEI - Stony Brook University
item SINGH, SHARANJIT - University Of Malaysia Pahang
item N. VO, DAI-VIET - Nguyen Tat Thanh University

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/21/2019
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Methanol is one-carbon alcohol that can be used as a building block to synthesize various industrial chemicals as well as fuels, for example, formaldehyde, acetic acid, dimethyl ether, gasoline and diesel. Up-to-date, coal and natural gas are the two main feedstocks for methanol production at the large industrial scale. Coal or natural gas is gasified by steam in the first step into synthesis gas, called thereafter syngas - mixture containing mainly carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The syngas is then catalyzed to produce methanol. This production route using fossil resources has high environmental impact such as greenhouse gas emission to the atmosphere. An alternative solution is to produce by reacting carbon dioxide with hydrogen. Using carbon dioxide from industrial emissions such as power plants emission and hydrogen generated with renewable electricity such as solar and wind energy will allow producing methanol with the minimal carbon dioxide emission to the atmosphere. This chapter reviews various catalytic processes in producing methanol from carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Ruthenium appears to be the best homogeneous catalyst for producing methanol from carbon dioxide.

Technical Abstract: This chapter is dedicated to a state-of-the-art on the methanol synthesis from carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Methanol is an important platform molecule which can be transformed into a large number of other chemicals, i.e. formaldehyde, acetic acid, dimethyl ether, methyl tert-butyl ether, methyl methacrylate, as well as complex hydrocarbons mixtures, e.g. gasoline, diesel. Up-to-date, methanol is produced at large industrial scale by steam reforming of natural gas, leading to high environmental impacts. The selective hydrogenation of carbon dioxide into methanol can be a good alternative since it is possible to capture carbon dioxide from industrial processes and to produce hydrogen from renewable energies, e.g. solar energy, wind energy. From thermodynamic point of view, carbon dioxide hydrogenation is strongly influenced by the total pressure, temperature and feeding composition. The use of a catalyst is also mandatory to control the kinetic and the selectivity into methanol. Among solid catalysts studied, copper-based catalysts have been found to be the best catalytic systems. Promoters like zinc oxide were usually used. Nickel-, palladium- and silver-based catalysts also showed good catalytic performance compared to copper-based catalysts. Soluble catalysts have been intensively studied for this hydrogenation. Ruthenium complex appeared as the best homogeneous catalyst. Other metal-free homogeneous catalysts have been found to be active and selective in this reaction. Effort has been on the mechanism study of the reaction in both the gas and liquid phases. Large industrial production has started in different countries showing the interest and the feasibility of the process.