Kinetic Insights into Methanol Synthesis from CO2 Hydrogenation at Atmospheric Pressure over Intermetallic Pd2Ga Catalyst

Abstract

Abstract This study presents a single‐site microkinetic model for methanol synthesis by CO2 hydrogenation over intermetallic Pd2Ga/SiO2. A reaction path analysis (RPA) combining theoretical results and realistic catalyst surface reaction data is established to elucidate the reaction mechanism and kinetic models of CO2 hydrogenation to methanol and CO. The RPA leads to the derivation of rate expressions for both reactions without presumptions about the most abundant reactive intermediate (MARI) and rate‐determining step (rds). The formation of H2COOH* is found to be the rds (step 19) for methanol synthesis via the formate pathway, with CO2 and H‐atoms adsorbed on intermetallic sites as the MARIs. The derived kinetic model is corroborated with experimental data acquired under different reaction conditions, using a lab‐scale fixed‐bed reactor and Pd2Ga/SiO2 nanoparticles prepared by incipient wetness impregnation. The excellent agreement between the experimental data and the kinetic model (R2 = 0.99) substantiates the proposed mechanism with an activation energy of 61.52 kJ mol‐1 for methanol synthesis. The reported catalyst exhibits high selectivity to methanol (96%) at 1 bar, 150 °C, and H2/CO2 ratio of 3:1. These findings provide critical insights to optimize catalysts and processes targeting CO2 hydrogenation at atmospheric pressure and low temperatures for on‐demand energy production.

Keywords

• alternative fuels
• CO2 utilization
• intermetallic effect
• microkinetic modeling
• reaction path analysis