Dimethyl Ether Synthesis from CO₂–H₂ Mixture over Cu/Amorphous-ZrO₂ Mixed with FER-type Zeolite

Abstract

Combinations of Cu-based catalysts and acidic zeolite were investigated for dimethyl ether (DME) production from a mixture of CO₂ and H₂. The physical mixture of Cu/a-ZrO₂ (a-: amorphous) catalyst and protonated FER-type zeolite produced a higher yield of DME than that of a Cu/ZnO/Al₂O₃ catalyst and FER-type zeolite at high pressure of 1.0 MPa. Cu/a-ZrO₂ catalyst showed relatively low activity in terms of undesirable CO formation, and the FER-type zeolite combined with the Cu/a-ZrO₂ catalyst had good activity for methanol dehydration, leading to the high yield of DME. DME selectivity over the combination catalyst of Cu/a-ZrO₂ and FER reached almost 40 %.