Investigation of methanol catalyst stability in presence of potential green hydrogen impurities

Methanol synthesis’ carbon footprint can be reduced using SynGas feeds from renewable power, but such feeds may strain catalysts due to impurities inherited from its production. Renewable sources include (biogas) pyrolysis, reforming, electrolysis, and shift reactions, whose possible poisons critically affect catalysis for future methanol production. In this work, Cu/ZnO/ZrO$_2$ and Cu/ZnO/ZrO$_2$/SiO$_2$ catalysts were tested under simulated feed conditions containing impurities from hydrogen sources. Since methane impurities and trace oxygen are rarely studied yet highly relevant, solar-powered methane or biogas pyrolysis and alkaline electrolysis were considered as case studies for a wide-rainging, sustainable hydrogen supply. Catalysts were investigated across their lifetime: before and after initial reduction, and during varying times on stream. Results show Cu0 sintering strongly depends on the feed, whereas oxygen-containing feeds promote ZnO crystallization, reducing long-term
performance. Incorporating silicon suppresses these effects, enabling more stable catalysts and supporting future
use of solar-powered hydrogen feeds.