Volume 11 Issue 4 ( December 2024)

Water gas shift (WGS) reaction under medium temperature shift (MTS) conditions opens a new way to reduce CO content from dry methane reforming and to increase hydrogen productivity. This study aims to synthesize the Cu/ZnO/ZSM-5 catalyst for WGS reaction with high feed concentrations of H₂ and CO₂. The reaction was carried out in a fixed bed reactor at atmospheric pressure, temperature 325 oC, and WHSV 60,000 ml/g-h using Cu/ZnO/ZSM-5 and Cu-based commercial catalyst. The Cu loading on the Cu/ZnO/ZSM-5 catalyst varied by 5, 10, and 15%-wt, while the commercial catalyst contained 58%-wt. According to the N2 physisorption, Cu/ZnO/ZSM-5 catalyst has a pore size around 2 nm. H₂ -TPR shows the increase in metal loading on the Cu/ZnO/ZSM-5 catalyst causes the reduction peak shift to a higher temperature. The catalyst of Cu/ZnO/ZSM-5 with a Cu content of 15% resulted in a CO conversion of 18%, a yield of H₂ of 15%, and good stability for up to 8 hours. The presence of H₂ and CO₂ in the feed caused the selectivity for the WGS reaction cannot reach 100%. The increase in Cu metal loading increased the activity of the catalyst. The characterization was carried out to determine the physicochemical properties of the catalyst, namely, XRF, N2 physisorption, and H₂ -TPR.

Keywords: Water gas shift; Cu-based catalyst; Medium temperature shift (MTS); ZSM-5; Hydrogen