Performance Evaluation of Cu-Sio2 Aerogel Catalyst in Methanol Steam Reforming

Effect of copper content, calcination temperature and activation method on the activityand selectivity of copper-silica aerogel catalysts for hydrogen production frommethanol steam reforming was investigated. results showed the copper content had thehighest impact and the activation condition had the lowest impact on the catalystperformance. it was found that cu-sio2 aerogel was a promising catalyst for methanolsteam reforming. the only parameter which influences the co selectivity was coppercontent. using the best prepared catalyst, no co formation was detected in the commoncondition of reaction. in the used range of feed flow rates, methanol conversion wasincreased 1.5-2.26 times by increasing the copper content from 7.7 to 13.3 wt%.characteristics/performance relationship showed that the samples in which copperspecies exist as cuo clusters had the best performance to increase the hydrogenproduction rate and decrease the co formation. formation of cuo clusters wasincreased by increasing the copper loading and calcination temperature. it was foundthat due to the reducibility behaviour of copper-silica aerogels the activation method ofcatalysts had almost no effect on the catalytic performance.