CO hydrogenation to methanol and dimethyl ether at atmospheric pressure using Cu-Ho-Ga/γ-AlO and Cu-Ho-Ga/ZSM-5: Experimental study and thermodynamic analysis.

CO valorization through chemical reactions attracts significant attention due to the mitigation of greenhouse gas effects. This article covers the catalytic hydrogenation of CO to methanol and dimethyl ether using Cu-Ho-Ga containing ZSM-5 and g-AlO at atmospheric pressure and at temperatures of 210 °C and 260 °C using a CO:H feed ratio of 1:3 and 1:9. In addition, the thermodynamic limitations of methanol and DME formation from CO was investigated at a temperature range of 100-400 °C. Cu-Ho-Ga/g-AlO catalyst shows the highest formation rate of methanol (90.3 µmol/g/h ) and DME (13.2 µmol/g/h) as well as the highest selectivity towards methanol and DME (39.9 %) at 210 °C using a CO:H 1:9 feed ratio. In both the thermodynamic analysis and reaction results, the higher concentration of H in the feed and lower reaction temperature resulted in higher DME selectivity and lower CO production rates.