The $CO_{2}$ Hydrogenation toward the Mixture of Methanol and Dimethyl Ether: Investigation of Hybrid Catalysts

Catalytic hydrogenation of carbon dioxide for the simultaneous synthesis of methanol and dimethyl ether (together called oxygenates) over a combination of methanol synthesis and methanol dehydration catalysts has been studied. Various methanol synthesis and methanol dehydration catalysts were examined for this reaction. The addition of promotors like $Ga_2O_3\; and\; Cr_2O_3$ to Cu/ZnO catalyst gave much more enhanced yield on the formation of oxygenates. From the results, the promotional effect of $Cr_2O_3$ has been explained in terms of increase in the intrinsic activity of Cu while that of $Ga_2O_3$ being increase in the dispersion of Cu. Among the methanol dehydration catalysts examined, the solid acids bearing high population of intermediate-strength acid sites were found to be very effective for the production of oxygenates. HY zeolite which contains strong acid sites produce small amount of hydrocarbons as by-products. However, CuNaY zeolite in which the presence of strong acid sites are minimum gives very high oxygenates yield without the formation of hydrocarbons.