The Selective Reverse Water Gas Shift Reaction on MoO₃/ZnO Catalyst

An Attempt for the Rationalized Production of an Oxogas in the Steam Reforming Process with Cofeeding CO₂

Abstract

If the reverse water gas shift reaction (RWGS: CO₂+ H₂→CO+H₂O) is selectively performed after steam reforming of light hydrocarbons with cofeeding CO₂, an equimolecular mixture of H₂ and CO, namely oxogas, is rationally produced.
We investigated on a catalyst for high selective RWGS under flowing the simulated gas having analogous composition of off gas of steam reformer with cofeeding CO₂, which includes large amount of CO. When widely accepted catalyst for RWGS, such as a NiO/ZnO catalyst, was used in our system, the methanation and the carbon deposition took place on it. Using a MoO₃/ZnO, however, these side reactions were restrained, and as a result, an attempt to promote the selective RWGS was successfully achieved under flowing the simulated gas. Moreover, the catalyst showed high performance after a month in the catalyst life test.