Read the Beforeitsnews.com story here. Advertise at Before It's News here.
Profile image
By New Energy And Fuel (Reporter)
Contributor profile | More stories
Story Views
Now:
Last hour:
Last 24 hours:
Total:

New Catalyst Makes Methanol From CO2 and Hydrogen

% of readers think this story is Fact. Add your two cents.


ETH Zurich scientists have developed a new catalyst that converts CO2 and hydrogen into methanol. The new catalyst offers realistic market potential that make for the sustainable production of fuels and chemicals from recycled CO2

The global economy still relies on the fossil carbon sources of petroleum, natural gas and coal, not just to produce fuel, but also as a raw material used by the chemical industry to manufacture plastics and countless other chemical compounds. Although efforts have been made for some time to find ways of manufacturing liquid fuels and chemical products from alternative, sustainable resources, these have not yet progressed beyond niche applications.

The scientists at ETH Zurich, now teamed up with the French oil and gas company Total to develop a new technology, efficiently converts CO2 and hydrogen directly into methanol. Methanol is regarded as a commodity or bulk chemical. It is possible to convert it into fuels and a wide variety of chemical products, including those that today are mainly based on fossil resources. Moreover, methanol itself has the potential to be utilized as a fuel source, in methanol fuel cells, for example.

The team’s study paper has been published in Nature Communications.

The core of the new approach is a chemical catalyst based on indium oxide, which was developed by Javier Pérez-Ramírez, Professor of Catalysis Engineering at ETH Zurich, and his team. Just a few years ago, the team successfully demonstrated in experiments that indium oxide was capable of catalyzing the necessary chemical reaction. Even at the time, it was encouraging that doing so generated virtually only methanol and almost no by-products other than water. The catalyst also proved to be highly stable. However, indium oxide was not sufficiently active as a catalyst; the large quantities needed prevent it from being a commercially viable option.

Now the team of scientists have succeeded in boosting the activity of the catalyst significantly, without affecting its selectivity or stability. They achieved this by treating the indium oxide with a small quantity of palladium.

“More specifically, we insert some single palladium atoms into the crystal lattice structure of the indium oxide, which anchor further palladium atoms to its surface, generating tiny clusters that are essential for the remarkable performance,” explained Cecilia Mondelli, a lecturer in Pérez-Ramírez’s group. Pérez-Ramírez pointed out that, with the aid of advanced analytical and theoretical methods, catalysis may now be considered nanotechnology, and in fact, the project clearly shows this to be the case.

“Nowadays, deriving methanol on an industrial scale is done exclusively from fossil fuels, with a correspondingly high carbon footprint,” Pérez-Ramírez said. “Our technology uses CO2 to produce methanol.” The CO2 may be extracted from the atmosphere or – more simply and efficiently – from the exhaust discharged by combustion power plants. Even if fuels are synthesized from the methanol and subsequently combusted, the CO2 is recycled and thus the carbon cycle is closed.

Producing the second raw material, hydrogen, requires electricity. However, the scientists point out that if this electricity comes from renewable sources such as wind, solar or hydropower energy, it can be used to make sustainable methanol and thus sustainable chemicals and fuels.

Compared to other methods that are currently being applied to produce green fuels, Pérez-Ramírez continued, this technology has the great advantage that it is almost ready for the market. ETH Zurich and Total have jointly filed a patent for the technology. Total now plans to scale up the approach and potentially implement the technology in a demonstration unit over the next few years.

Methanol is a pretty good fuel, it burns clean and has a native high octane. The downside is the energy content is lower than gasoline or diesel. That means larger tanks.

On the other hand, in a fuel cell methanol is a very good fuel indeed. A stabile liquid it stores without pressurization. This idea is a very good one, recycle CO2 and add hydrogen to the fuel supply. Lets hope this technology takes off.


Source: https://newenergyandfuel.com/http:/newenergyandfuel/com/2019/08/13/new-catalyst-makes-methanol-from-co2-and-hydrogen/


Before It’s News® is a community of individuals who report on what’s going on around them, from all around the world.

Anyone can join.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can become informed about their world.

"United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.

Please Help Support BeforeitsNews by trying our Natural Health Products below!


Order by Phone at 888-809-8385 or online at https://mitocopper.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST

Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomic.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST

Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomics.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST


Humic & Fulvic Trace Minerals Complex - Nature's most important supplement! Vivid Dreams again!

HNEX HydroNano EXtracellular Water - Improve immune system health and reduce inflammation.

Ultimate Clinical Potency Curcumin - Natural pain relief, reduce inflammation and so much more.

MitoCopper - Bioavailable Copper destroys pathogens and gives you more energy. (See Blood Video)

Oxy Powder - Natural Colon Cleanser!  Cleans out toxic buildup with oxygen!

Nascent Iodine - Promotes detoxification, mental focus and thyroid health.

Smart Meter Cover -  Reduces Smart Meter radiation by 96%! (See Video).

Report abuse

    Comments

    Your Comments
    Question   Razz  Sad   Evil  Exclaim  Smile  Redface  Biggrin  Surprised  Eek   Confused   Cool  LOL   Mad   Twisted  Rolleyes   Wink  Idea  Arrow  Neutral  Cry   Mr. Green

    MOST RECENT
    Load more ...

    SignUp

    Login

    Newsletter

    Email this story
    Email this story

    If you really want to ban this commenter, please write down the reason:

    If you really want to disable all recommended stories, click on OK button. After that, you will be redirect to your options page.