TITLE: Update of Low Temperature Catalyst Development.

AUTHOR: D. Mahajan;   R. S. Sapienza;   T. E. O'Hare;   G. T. Skaperdas.

INST.  AUTHOR: Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY.

SPONSOR: Department of Energy, Washington, DC.

LANGUAGE: English

PUB.  TYPE: Technical Report

PUB.  COUNTRY: United States

SOURCE: Department of Energy [DE],  May 87,  15p.

NTIS ORDER NO.: DE88007032/INW

NOTES: 12. annual EPRI contractors' conference on fuel science and conversion, Palo Alto, CA, USA, 13 May 1987.

ABSTRACT:

A highly active catalyst system for the synthesis of methanol from synthesis gas has been under development at BNL. A combination of low temperature (greater than or equal to 70 deg C, low pressure (greater than or equal to 100 psi), and liquid phase performance makes it possible to achieve high conversion per pass, typically >90% with feed gas composed of hydrogen to carbon monoxide ratio of 2 with this new catalyst. High selectivity to methanol (>95%) has been routinely achieved with methyl formate, a value added product, being the by-product. In addition to temperature and pressure, activity of the new catalyst is sensitive to catalyst formulation, solvent medium, and concentration of product methanol. The catalyst is inert to most impurities normally present in coal-derived syngas, although the carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide ratio is a critical factor. 6 refs., 5 figs., 2 tabs. (ERA citation 13:028953)

REPORT  NUMBER: BNL-40685;   CONF-8705261-1

CONTRACT  NUMBER: AC02-76CH00016