Carbon dioxide hydrogenation to form methanol via a reverse-water-gas-shift reaction (the CAMERE process)

The CAMERE process (carbon dioxide hydrogenation to form methanol via a rev erse-water-gas-shift reaction) was developed and evaluated. The reverse-wat er-gas-shift reactor and the methanol synthesis reactor were serially align ed to form methanol from CO2 hydrogenation. Carbon dioxide was converted to CO and water by the reverse-water-gas-shift reaction (RWReaction) to remov e water before methanol was synthesized. With the elimination of water by R WReaction, the purge gas volume was minimized as the recycle gas volume dec reased. Because of the minimum purge gas loss by the pretreatment of RWReac tor, the overall methanol yield increased up to 89% from 69%. An active and stable catalyst with the composition of Cu/ ZnO/ZrO2/Ga2O3 (5:3:1:1) was d eveloped. The system was optimized and compared with the commercial methano l synthesis processes from natural gas and coal.